A Tragedy at Midnight

In the best of circumstances, meaning complete and uncut, "A Tragedy at Midnight" still could not be called a good movie. The writing is awful, the direction slipshod--shots rarely match, and in some scenes the actors don't seem to realize they're on camera; they stare down until their cue comes, at which time they suddenly leap into character--and the acting in many cases is pure burlesque. Most Abbott and Costello movies are more realistic. The goal was obviously to do a screwball mystery, ala "The Thin Man," with a little "Ghost Breakers" thrown in, but the characters here act like imbeciles. Having said that, the version of this film that is readily available on Netflix makes matters even worse by having had about one-quarter of its original running time chopped out, so as to fit into an hour time slot for television. This 53 minute version makes no sense--none--since the eliminated footage was apparently all exposition. What's left of the film involves a radio sleuth who makes the cops look like idiots (no big task here), and wakes up one hungover morning next to the corpse of a woman, not his wife. Can he solve the mystery, clear himself, elude the police, appease his wife, and still make his Wednesday broadcast? John Howard and Margaret Lindsay have very little chemistry, and Keye Luke's servant role makes the work of Mantan Moreland look dignified. There is also a huge cast of solid solid character actors, mostly wasted in virtual extra roles. Republic should have stuck to serials.

Greg Sherman (John Howard) is hated by the local police. It's because Sherman has a radio show about crime...and he often solves the crimes...leaving the police looking foolish. So, when a woman's body is found in his bedroom, the cops are deliriously happy. Whether he did it or not, it will likely hurt Sherman's popularity. So, Sherman does the standard cliche in a case like this...he slugs the cop who discovers it and sets about trying to solve the case himself (Note: kids, do NOT try this at home!). Can he manage to extricate himself or will Sherman end up in the hoosegow?

In this story, Sherman is assisted by Beth (Margaret Lindsay) and Ah Foo (Keye Luke)...a ridiculously named lackey-type character. This is pretty sad, as Luke had a lovely voice and was a good actor, but here he talks like he just got off the boat from China. Fortunately, Luke did have a few good film opportunities apart from this film, such as a recurring character in the Dr. Kildare series.

So is this B-mystery any good? Well, it's at least a very TYPICAL B...with the usual cliches and formula. Now to many viewers, this won't matter. But idiot cops, a body planted in the guy's room and his running from the law has a real 'been there, done that' quality about it for those who love B-movies. Because of this, I certainly don't think it's a must-see...though it is reasonably well made despite the rather lazy and by the book script.

The host of a whodunit radio show finds himself involved in his own mystery when he awakens to find a woman with a knife in her back in his bedroom.

Ok, it is like the Thin man, so what? In Hollywood, when something is successful, it's naturally replicated by another studio, but Tragedy at Midnight starring Margaret Lindsey and John Howard is entertaining in its own right, both stars gel well together, Margaret, especially, is animated and energetic. It's standard mystery, but a fun one which moves at a good rate. Keye Luke ( number one son from Charlie Chan) also stars.

All in all, the programmer's a pretty obscure entry in the amateur sleuth sweepstakes so popular at the time. Here it's radio crime broadcaster John Howard and his spunky wife Margaret Lindsey trying to figure out who put a dead woman in his bed, much to wife Lindsey's chagrin. The trail gets complicated, such that the whodunit part is secondary to colorful byplay. Happily though, Lindsey really shines; in fact, her smile alone lit up my gloomy living room. It's really her spark that carries the proceedings.Then too, the little byplay with the prissy hat designer remains a comedy highlight. Too bad Keye Luke's factotum has to call Howard "master". Still, he shows his jiujitsu skills in spades, and without use of a double that I could detect. Note, the naughty innuendo around finding a strange woman in the marital bed, even if it is a double one. Apparently, censorship relaxed a bit on this one. Note also presence of Roscoe Karns as the humorous cop Cassidy, a role similar to his TV Rocky King, Detective (1951-54). Nothing special about the 57-minutes, even though the cast does its best with what amounts to a murky script that's better in parts than as a whole.

Entertaining crime comedy with a radio detective and his girlfriend (called Mommy, very bad idea in my way) about a crime of a woman found stabbed in Mommy's bed. It's kind of Thin Man adventure, quite silly. I really love the shadows scene. Not a must.