EXPOSED (1947)

Adele Mara and Mark Roberts

EXPOSED (1947). Director: George Blair. 

"He probably got admitted to the bar too often." -- referring to attorney-turned-drunk Severance. 

Lady private eye Belinda Prentice (Adele Mara) is hired by Colonel Bentry (Russell Hicks) to investigate the doings of stepson William Foresman (Mark Roberts of The Brothers Brannigan), who has supposedly been acting strangely. Belinda and associate Iggy (William Haade) have barely gotten started when the client is found dead in his study. Suspects include William, his sister Judy (Lorna Gray), the attorney turned drunken butler Severance (Harry Shannon), the lawyer Lowell (Charles Evans), seedy gunsel Chicago (Bob Steele), Dr. Richard (Colin Campbell of The Lost World) and the odd Professor Ordson (Paul E. Burns). Belinda's father, Inspector Prentice (Robert Armstrong), just happens to be the lead cop on the case, and he doesn't appreciate his daughter's interference. 

Robert Armstrong and Adele Mara

The notion of a female private eye was still unusual enough in the forties, but while Exposed starts out in snappy enough fashion, it soon bogs down into a very routine Republic studios programmer that lasts less than an hour and is much less entertaining than the average episode of Perry Mason (Mark Roberts appeared eight times on that series). There are no clever murder schemes nor any surprises whatsoever. In fact, the only memorable sequence is a protracted and explosive fight between Iggy and Chicago that reminds one of the kind of fisticuffs you would see in one of Republic's serials. The actors are all professional enough although none of them especially distinguish themselves. Mara seems over-rehearsed throughout. 

Verdict: Except for the lively fight scene, this is pretty dull. *1/2.