The Hidden Eye

After several members of Jean Hampton's family are murdered, the police begin to suspect her fiancé. Jean decides to hire a private detective to help find the real killer. Captain Duncan Maclain comes onto the case. Being blind, Maclain is a rather unique detective who brings his own methods and skills to the case. And, as one of the few clues is a distinct perfume left behind at each crime scene, being blind may prove an advantage. But can he uncover the killer before anyone else is murdered?

Unlike a lot of the older films I've watched lately, I'm not really a fan of The Hidden Eye. My first issue with the film is the way Edward Albert played Maclain. It just never feels right. I didn't care for him as a character. His deep, hearty laughing response to most every situation really put me off. He solves a case - laughter. He uncovers a clue - laughter. He wrestles a baddie - laughter. His dog is kidnapped - laughter. It was so bizarre and I didn't care for it. My second issue was how easily the mystery was solved. One of the biggest clues is a phone number that Maclain overhears being dialed. How fortunate that of all the phone numbers the bad guy could have called, he dials one that Maclain already knows. So by happenstance, Maclain comes up with the murderer's identity. This also didn't work for me.

The real highlight and the thing I will remember most about watching The Hidden Eye was seeing Audrey Totter in an all too brief, uncredited performance as a perfume saleslady. Her 45 seconds of screen time was so amazing that I had to stop the movie to look her up on IMDb.

4/10

Blind detective Duncan Maclain is asked for help by a young woman whose fiancé is the prime suspect in a murder. This is the second Duncan Maclain movie starring Edward Arnold. The first, Eyes In the Night, was released in 1942. I'm not sure about the reason for the gap between the movies. If MGM was trying to launch a series of B detective movies around this character, one would assume they would have produced them quickly. Maybe this was filmed years before it was released. I don't see that info here on IMDb but that makes more sense than them waiting three years to make a follow-up to a B programmer that wasn't a huge hit to begin with. There's something very odd about the opening minutes of this one. The audio appears to be dubbed. The actors' lips are in sync with the words but it still seems off. You'll see what I mean.

Edward Arnold is always worth a look. Reliable Ray Collins leads a so-so cast backing up Arnold. The weakest part is Frances Rafferty, whose overwrought performance borders on hysterics half the time. It's amusing at first but quickly annoying. She's very pretty, though. Audrey Totter has one small scene but it's a great one. Not a bad B detective movie. The pace is good and there's a nice amount of humor sprinkled throughout. The mystery itself isn't much of a mystery as the killer is revealed to be the most obvious suspect about halfway into the movie. I really wanted it to be the fiancé because his scenes with Rafferty were insufferably corny. If you're a fan of these kinds of movies I'm sure you'll enjoy this enough. Definitely not a waste of an hour so give it a shot.

Slick programmer from MGM. It's not exactly a whodunit, though the narrative starts out that way. Rather, the plot becomes a battle of wits between Capt. Maclain (Arnold) and the killer. Seems someone's knocking off members of the Hampton family, leaving daughter Jean (Rafferty) in danger. Now blind ex-cop Maclain, along with police dog Friday and comedic helper Marty, have to figure things out before more bloodletting.

Arnold's Maclain has to be the most genial cop in movie annals: he even manages a chuckle in the direst circumstance. I guess that shows acceptance of his impaired condition. Good to see one of my old-time heartthrobs Frances Rafferty looking gorgeous as usual. And that's Leigh Whipper briefly as the colored butler. Too bad he doesn't get to show the soul he shows in the classics Of Mice and Men (1939) and The Ox-Bow Incident (1943). Once you see him there, you don't forget. And, of course, there's Friday who should get a canine Oscar for his winning performance.

Anyway, the programmer's mainly a personality detective show, slickly done by MGM's accomplished production crew. I guess my only reservation is with some of the look-alike supporting players and keeping them straight. Still, it's an entertaining way to spend an hour that's also lost little over the years. Meanwhile, this old geezer could sure use a buddy like the genius-level Friday.

I love old B-detective films such as Charlie Chan, The Saint, Boston Blackie and The Falcon. In addition to these very popular series, MGM tried to make a string of films starring veteran character actor Edward Arnold as a blind ex-police captain who now investigates crimes on his own. Unfortunately, while I really liked the first two films of the series, there must not have been much interest as MGM killed the series and only ended up making the two.

What a shame, as I found them charming and innovative--something that is lacking in most films of the genre. I liked Arnold's easygoing manner (though my wife felt he laughed too much) and his guide dog, Friday, was a great sidekick--practically stealing the show. The plots were creative, the supporting acting very good and the production values many steps above lower budget Bs. About the only thing that was a deficit was the use of stunt doubles. All too often, it was VERY obvious that it was not the rotund and middle-aged Arnold but a younger and thinner man with significantly more hair! In this regard, it reminded me a lot of the work done on the original STAR TREK television series--where it was obviously NOT Kirk, Spock or McCoy in the action scenes.

By the way, if you get a chance, try seeing the first film (EYES IN THE NIGHT). It's really funny watching Arnold's character deliberately trying to be super-obnoxious and irritating!

As a genial blind detective, EDWARD ARNOLD chuckles his way through his familiar role as the man whose keen mind and senses detect things that a man with eyesight cannot possibly see. In this particular mystery, the murderer is revealed halfway through and the suspense lies in wondering how Arnold will get on his scent.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS has a good supporting role as his assistant who's assigned to test some perfumes. His scene at a perfume counter is the film's only solid comic moment and he shares it with the unbilled and unknown AUDREY TOTTER as an amused clerk. FRANCES RAFFERTY is the pretty leading lady, a woman about to inherit a huge fortune upon the death of her wealthy uncle. The crime is planted on her fiancé and it's up to Arnold to find a way to reveal the true murderer.

JACK LAMBERT makes a good thug, but Edward Arnold's bland portrayal of the amiable blind man is a bit tedious after awhile. Overall, it's pretty mild stuff.