SENSATION HUNTERS (1945)

Doris Merrick and Robert Lowery

SENSATION HUNTERS (aka Club Paradise/1945). Director: Christy Cabanne.

Julie Rogers (Doris Merrick) has an unpleasant home situation with a grumpy father (Byron Foulger), drunk brother, pregnant sister-in-law and so on, but she does have a sympathetic boyfriend in aspiring musician Ray (Eddie Quillan). But things go awry when Ray takes her gambling and the joint is raided, resulting in Julie being thrown out of the house. She goes to work as a dancer at a dumpy gin mill called the Paradise Club. As Ray rises in the world and gets his own band, Julie becomes hung up on a good-for-nothing heel and gambler named Danny Burke (Robert Lowery), but this relationship may only lead to tragedy. 

Constance Worth and Lowery

Sensation Hunters could easily be sub-titled "When Good Girls Go Bad Due to Bad Guys." At 62 minutes the film certainly moves fast, but it could have used a lot more character development. Lowery is okay in the thankless and generic role of the good-looking creep who essentially lives off of women and has little back story. Doris Merrick's part is also under-written, but she does get across the confusion and desperation of her character. Constance Worth of G-Men vs the Black Dragon is excellent as Irene, the lady who runs the Paradise Club and is also carrying a torch for Danny. Wanda McKay of Roaring City scores as Helen, Julie's alleged friend who romances Ray and then goes after Danny herself. Isabel Jewell plays a singer at the Paradise who has seen better days, and Nestor Paiva is a loan shark who is after Danny for money. This is the second of two films that Monogram Studios released with the title of Sensation Hunters. Robert Lowery was the second screen Batman. 

Verdict: Not as sensational as you might hope. **.