THE CRIMSON KEY

Kent Taylor

THE CRIMSON KEY (1947). Director: Eugene Forde. 

Larry Morgan (Kent Taylor) is a none-too-successful private eye -- he still owes his secretary Daisy (Vera Marshe) several weeks of back salary -- who finds a much-needed client in Mrs. Swann (Bernadene Hayes). Mrs. Swann has sensed a distraction in her husband, Dr. Swann (Douglas Evans), and wants Larry to find out if he's seeing another woman or if it's something else. In rapid order, both Swann and his wife are soon murdered, but Larry decides to earn his retainer anyway and keep investigating. Riiiight. 

Doris Dowling and Kent Taylor

This brings him into contact with a number of suspects: entertainer Paris Wood (Ann Doran); her fiance Jeffrey Regan (Edwin Rand); artist Peter Vandaman (Ivan Triesault);  Dr. Swann's adoring assistant Miss Phillips (Victoria Horne); psychic psychiatrist Huntley G. Harlow (Milton Parsons of The Hidden Hand); his seductive confederate, Heidi (Louise Currie); the jealous Steven Loring (Dennis Hoey); and his attractive, dipsomaniac wife, Margaret (Doris Dowling). Everything seems to center on a key that was in the possession of the Swanns and may have secret information inside a locker. Larry has the usual love-hate relationship with the cop on the case, Captain Fitzroy (Arthur Space of 20 Million Miles to Earth). 

Dennis Hoey, Kent Taylor and Arthur Space

When Larry and his secretary learn that Dr. Swann has been murdered they express absolutely no sympathy for either him or his widow -- only dismay over the loss of a paying client -- so it is out of character for Larry to want to keep investigating just because the now-dead woman paid him several hundred dollars -- he would just go out and drink and let the cops do their job, which is what he first suggests to Mrs. Swann before her own murder. A bigger problem with the movie is that despite its complicated plot (with all the familiar elements of the genre) and relatively fast pace, it's so talky and dull. Taylor and the other actors -- especially Doris Dowling -- turn in perfectly good performances, but despite a satisfying conclusion this just doesn't work. The lack of a strong musical score is a another major deficit. 

Verdict: Private eye movie from 20th Century-Fox that never really catches fire. **. 

THE HIDDEN HAND

Milton Parsons

THE HIDDEN HAND (1942). Director: Benjamin Stoloff. 

Insane murderer John Channing (Milton Parsons) escapes from an institution by hiding in the back of a police car! He arrives at the mansion owned by his sister, Lorinda (Cecil Cunningham), who wants his help in carrying out a sinister scheme. Convinced that her relatives are only out for her money, she invites them all to her house, fakes her death, and hopes they will all kill each other off -- or become victims of John, who is pretending to be a new butler. Lorinda's secretary, Mary (Elisabeth Fraser) is said to be her main heir, so she becomes a target almost immediately. 

Craig Stevens and Cecil Cunningham

Half an hour into the film's brief running time, the star Craig Stevens, playing lawyer Peter Thorne, who is engaged to Mary, shows up to intercede in events. There are more murders and a bit of skulduggery as well, including sequences with secret panels and trapdoors that overhang deep drops into the ocean. The male relatives are played by Roland Drew, Tom Stevenson, and Frank Wilcox, while the ladies are portrayed by Julie Bishop and Ruth Ford, with Inez Gay cast as the unfortunate maid, Hattie, and Marian Hall as the sinister nurse, Eleanor. Kam Tong is the Chinest servant Mallo, who is one of several people who come to a bad end. 

"I don't like that pigeon." Willie Best

The most likable player is Willie Best, who plays Eustis, the chauffeur. Approaching an agitated raven in his mistress' bedroom, he says, "I don't like that pigeon and he doesn't like me, either." The Hidden Hand is too loopy to work as a serious mystery film, and it isn't funny enough to work as a black comedy, so what we've got is a fairly foolish melodrama with mostly insufficient acting. Even Cecil Cunningham isn't very good, and Stevens [Peter Gunn] has little to do but look pretty. Willie Best does his usual shtick, but he steals the move doing it. Elisabeth Fraser makes little impression as Mary, but Parsons is typically effective as one of his gallery of creeps. 

Verdict: An instantly forgettable so-called comedy melodrama.  **.