PASSKEY TO DANGER

Kane Richmond and Stephanie Bachelor

PASSKEY TO DANGER (1946). Director: Lesley Selander.

Tex Hanlon (Kane Richmond) and his fiancee Gwen (Stephanie Bachelor) are an advertising team who have come up with a fashion campaign called "Three Springs." Unfortunately three hoods, formerly known as the Spring Brothers, who committed embezzlement and escaped from jail, think the Three Springs campaign has to do with them. Therefore Tex finds himself being offered huge amounts of money for what he thinks are dresses. Other complications include a blonde, Renee (Adele Mara), who may or may not be a designer with designs on Tex, and the sinister Mr. Warren (Gregory Gaye of Flying Disc Man from Mars) and his thuggish assistant, Bert (Fred Graham of The Giant Gila Monster). 

Richmond with Adele Mara

Frankly, the screenplay for this dog doesn't make a lot of sense. Richmond and Bachelor are perfectly swell for the more insouciant romantic scenes, but are only passable when it comes to anything slightly more dramatic -- not that there's too much of that in this. Gregory Gaye has trouble tossing off vicious bon mots with the kind of skill that came so easily to such as George Sanders. Adele Mara is okay in another of her perky blonde portrayals. Others in the cast include Gerald Mohr of  The Angry Red Planet, John Eldredge of Insurance Investigator and George J. Lewis of Federal Operator 99. The best scene in the movie is the terrific furniture-smashing fist fight between Tex and Bert at the very end. From Republic studios, but you might think it's Monogram. 

Verdict: Features a trio of very dumb "master" criminals. **. 

BLACKMAIL (1947)

William Marshall and Ricardo Cortez

BLACKMAIL (1947). Director: Lesley Selander. 

Ziggy Cranston (Ricardo Cortez) calls in a private eye, Danny Turner (William Marshall), when he is blackmailed by a avaricious gal named Carla (Stephanie Bachelor). When Carla is murdered, Ziggy is less concerned that he might be accused of the crime than that there might be associates of the dead woman who still have the incriminating photographs. This turns out to be true, and one of those associates winds up dead in Ziggy's swimming pool. Thinking Ziggy did the deed, Danny wants no part of murder and calls the police, but when the cops, including Inspector Donaldson (Grant Withers) get there the body has disappeared. Ziggy's gal, Sylvia (Adele Mara), backs up his story that there was no murder and no body, but Danny determines to get to the bottom of things. Along the way he has to contend with casino owner Kellaway (Roy Barcroft of The James Brothers of Missouri), his punch-happy associate, Pinky (Tristram Coffin of King of the Rocket Men), the supposedly French chauffeur Antoine (Richard Fraser of The Tiger Woman), and other nefarious characters before he reveals the true killer at the climax.

"I didn't do it!" Ricardo Cortez and Adele Mara

Blackmail is another bit of film noir from Republic studios featuring many of their contract players. Star William Marshall, who was once married to Ginger Rogers, makes a very convincing movie-type private eye radiating toughness and insolence in equal measure although he isn't given many opportunities to love up the ladies. Cortez plays the part in such a way that you never quite know if he's on the level or making things up as he goes along. Adele Mara is okay if a little bland in this as Cortez' squeeze. The plot is a wild and confusing  concoction that has a few holes in it, although it's entertaining enough and fast-paced. Marshall should have made more of these but this was his only appearance as Danny Turner. Probably the best thing about the movie are the ferocious fistfights which approach the level of the fisticuffs seen in Republic serials.

Verdict: Fast-moving Republic private eye flick. **1/2. 

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. 

THE TIGER WOMAN (1945)

Kane Richmond

THE TIGER WOMAN (1945). Director: Philip Ford. 

Private eye Jerry Devery (Kane Richmond) is contacted by a pretty singer at the tony Tiger Club named Sharon Winslow (Adele Mara). Sharon is afraid that something might happen to her husband, the club's co-owner, because of gambling debts, but she also confesses that she is in love with her husband's partner, Steve Mason (Richard Fraser). Sharon and Steve find Mr. Winslow's dead body along with a suicide note, and Steve decides to burn the note so that he can collect on his partner's insurance. Now even the police are sure it was murder -- and maybe it really was. Devery discovers a suspect, Rosie (Donia Bussey), who had a grudge against Winslow and she is arrested, but are things as neatly sewn up as Devery thinks? 

Adele Mara and Richard Fraser

Based on a play, The Tiger Woman -- not to be confused with the cliffhanger serial of the same name -- comes off like an interesting pastiche of various private eye novels. There are no major surprises in the plot but there are some twists and turns along the way and the flick is entertaining. It also features an especially ruthless and sociopathic villainess. Kane Richmond plays the private eye in the insouciant style that was nearly obligatory during the period, and he's perfectly okay on that level. Adele Mara doesn't have to do much but look good, alternately purring and snarling, but she is also okay. Richard Fraser and Donia Bussey offer adept supporting performances, and Cy Kendall [Lady in the Death House] is more than adequate as the fat Inspector Leggett. Although Leggett amd Devery eventually unravel the clues in the case, they generally don't come off as especially intelligent investigators. From Republic Pictures.

Verdict: Private eye pastiche from Republic. **3/4.