ROARING CITY

Hugh Beaumont and Joan Valerie

ROARING CITY (1951). Director: William Berke.

"He was with me all night." -- Gail.

"That's not an alibi, that's just bad taste." -- Denny O'Brien. 

Troubleshooter and boat renter Dennis O'Brien of Pier 23 gets involved in two cases in this last of three flicks featuring Hugh Beaumont as O'Brien. First O'Brien finds himself mixed up in a boxing match fix in which one of the fighters dies and both the other fighter, Lundy (Greg McClure), and the crooked promoter find themselves on the wrong end of a bullet. In the second and more interesting case, a blonde named Irma (Joan Valerie) hires Denny to pretend to be the husband of her step-daughter, Sylvia (Wanda McKay). Sylvia's angry boyfriend shows up, and her real husband is found dead in a box along with an unconscious O'Brien. 

Beaumont with Richard Travis

Once again as he did in Pier 23 Hugh Beaumont proves very adept at the hard-boiled style in his on-target portrayal of the unlikable, borderline immoral and not-terribly-bright Dennis O'Brien. His interplay with Inspector Bruger (Richard Travis, who is also quite good) is sharp and well-played --Beaumont and Travis make a good team --  and the script has lots of good dialogue. Edward Brophy is some fun as O'Brien's pal the "professor" and there are some decent supporting performances; Greg McClure is notable. However, neither Joan Valerie or even Wanda McKay make much of an impression as two of the shady ladies. A third, the oddly-named Rebel Randall, who plays Gail in the first story, is slightly better. 

Verdict: Fun to watch "Ward Cleaver" as an anti-hero. **1/2. 

PIER 23

Hugh Beaumont and Richard Travers

PIER 23 (1951). Director: William Berke.

Dennis O'Brien (Hugh Beaumont of Railroaded) lives on the San Francisco docks and operates as a troubleshooter. Father Donovan (Raymond Greenleaf) importunes Denny to meet up with an escaped con on Pier 23 and bring him to the priest, who hopes to convince him to turn himself in. Denny grabs the guy, who insists on taking time out to see a shady lady named Ann (Ann Savage). Denny is slugged and wakes up to discover that the escaped con is a corpse -- and it turns out that he wasn't even the guy he was supposed to bring to Father Donovan. This leads into a convoluted plot involving wrestling fraud (!) and murder. 

Ann Savage with Beaumont

In the early fifties Hugh Beaumont starred in three films featuring the character of Dennis O'Brien, who takes on cases but doesn't really seem to be a licensed private eye. His adversary was Police Inspector Lt. Bruger (Richard Travis of Missile to the Moon.) Beaumont gets into the hard-boiled style even better than he did as Michael Shayne in the forties, but the character is callous and unlikable. The films were generally two radio scripts put together and it's sometimes hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Pier 23 is talky and convoluted but also fast-paced at 57 minutes, and it has an interesting cast. 

Beaumont vamped by Margia Dean

Ann Savage of Detour is typically vivid but she doesn't have much time on-screen and it's never clearly delineated as to how exactly she fits in the story line. Mike Mazurki of New Orleans Uncensored plays a wrestler named "Ape," and Edward Brophy is comedy relief as Professor Shickler, Denny's tippling roommate. Eve Miller gives a poor performance as Savage's nicer sister, Norma, but Margia Dean is more flavorful as a dead wrestler's widow named Flo. Frankly Dean and the other ladies are not exactly the sexiest women in the world, but the real beauties don't wind up in poverty row pictures. (Dean was actually the mistress of producer Robert L. Lippert.) On the other hand, Joi Lansing has a small role as a cocktail waitress and is rather sexy. This is atmospheric and well-acted but the plot is poor. 

Verdict: Despite a solid performance from Beaumont this never really catches fire. **.

CALLING PHILO VANCE

James Stephenson as Philo Vance

CALLING PHILO VANCE (1940). Director: William Clemens. 

Philo Vance (James Stephenson) is sent on assignment to Vienna to investigate an airplane manufacturer named Archer Coe (Richard Kipling), who may be selling important designs to the axis powers. Before Philo can get anywhere he is arrested -- as if anyone could believe Stephenson was an American newspaperman -- and sent back to New York, where he continues his investigation at Coe's townhouse when the man is found murdered. The suspects include the victim's niece, Hilda (Margot Stevenson), who hated her uncle; her boyfriend, Tyler (Ralph Forbes); Coe's associate, Philip (Donald Douglas), who is in love with Hilda; a neighbor named Doris (Sheila Bromley) who is covering for someone; the maid Ling Toy (Bo Ling), who acts suspiciously; and even the butler, Gamble (Martin Kosleck).  Helping or hindering Philo in his investigation are the dyspeptic cop Ryan (Edward Brophy), Chief Inspector Markham (Henry O'Neill), and Philo's Scotch terrier, MacTavish. Then Coe's brother, Brisbane (Wedgwood Nowell), also turns up dead.

Calling Philo Vance is a remake of The Kennel Murder Case, which starred William Powell as Philo Vance. Stephenson could be a fine actor -- he was terrific in The Letter with Bette Davis -- but he has trouble making an impression in the wake of Powell. There are some mildly clever aspects to the murder plot, but the movie has little atmosphere or suspense. Philo Vance was also played by Alan Curtis in two films. William Hopper of Perry Mason and George Reeves of Superman have very small parts in this. 

Verdict: Not Philo's best. **.