Saturday, February 22, 2014

One Dangerous Night (1943)

This is one of the better of the Warren William entries in The Lone Wolf series of movies. As usual, there is Eric Blore adding comedy as William's sticky-fingered butler, Jamison, who cannot quite seem to completely leave behind their old criminal days. The basic plot revolves around Gerald Mohr (of Philip Marlowe radio fame) as a blackmailer who has his claws into three wealthy women - Marguerite Chapman, Mona Barrie and Tala Birell. William gets involved because one of them has had a flat tire and he and Blore give her a lift to Mohr's house. Mohr's butler, Louis Jean Heydt, is doublecrossing him with his associates to get back at Mohr because he doublecrossed one of their old pals. Deep-voiced Thurston Hall is the police officer on the case.

While the three ladies are at Mohr's house, someone turns out the light and shoots him. Whodunit? Now, that would ruin the plot for you, wouldn't it? But I promise the end is a surprise twist in this very enjoyable old detective flick. And a real, honest-to-goodness old detective movie fan should be able to figure it out. As the name suggests, all of the events are packed into one fast-moving evening.

The scene in which Blore feigns being sick at a restaurant is worth the price of admission by itself.





Chapman


Hall

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