The Case of the Black Parrot

Wow, that William Lundigan was cute! Here he stars in 1941's The Case of the Black Parrot, directed by Noel M. Smith. This is a rare lead for Lundigan at Warners.

Lundigan is Jim Moore, on board ship returning from Europe. He's met a young woman, Sandy Vantine (Maris Wrixon) traveling with her uncle, and they've fallen in love.

The Vantines are bringing home an antique cabinet, supposedly forged by the Black Parrot, an expert forger. An inspector, Colonel Piggott (Paul Cavanagh) is also aboard and after the Black Parrot. The cabinet appears to be the real thing, not a forgery. And it appears the Parrot is after it.

Back home, Jim has proposed to Sandy and meets her family and friends. They discover a maid, Julia, is trying to find love letters in the cabinet written by her boss, Madame de Charierre, to whom the cabinet actually belongs. Then Sandy's uncle and another guest are killed. Jim contacts Colonel Piggott. Everyone is a suspect.

There is a second compartment in the cabinet that holds diamonds. Obviously someone is after them - perhaps the Parrot himself.

It won't take anyone long to figure this one out.

Nothing special about it, and for me a little confusing as my concentration wandered.

Fast-paced mystery programmer that times in at exactly one hour, this one doesn't give you any time to grow bored, as a piece of forged Chinese furniture turns out to be real. Eddie Foy Jr. is great as the fast-talking sidekick and the plot veers in unexpected direction. William Lundigan is earnest and stiff as always, but even the butler speaks fast in this one.

The Black Parrot is a notorious forger who is rumored to have stolen the Mona Lisa. Paul Vantine has purchased a cabinet despite suspecting it as a Black Parrot fake. He is certain that even a forgery would climb in value due to the exemplary work. Paul and his niece Sandy Vantine show the cabinet to reporter Jim Moore, and his buddy Tripod Daniels. Upon further inspection, Paul realizes that it is actually the real deal worth $250k.

I've never heard of this movie, or the play, or the novel, or the author. That's the vast majority of literary works in the history of humanity. Not everyone or everything become the popular zeitgeist. Nothing is really standing out in this movie. Jim Moore isn't that interesting. None of the actors are really breaking through. They seem like fine professionals. It's a run-of-the-mill murder mystery in a mansion. It's all rather borderline nothingness.

Lacklustre whodunit from Warners. Plot concerns a valuable antique cabinet being brought back from France to US. The furniture item appears a mysterious piece of work that may or may not be a copy of the real thing. Reporter Moore (Lundigan) and ditzy photographer Tripod (Foy Jr.) get involved with the cabinet and an exotic someone calling himself The Black Parrot. Soon a series of mysterious deaths occur surrounding the furniture piece. Is the Parrot responsible and just who is he really.

It's a typical amateur sleuth programmer from that period. Unfortunately, the results are dimmer than most. Only the unknown method of killing registers as imaginative. Otherwise, the acting, visuals, and script are pedestrian, at best. Moreover, I don't recall a single scene not taking place on a set. It's a real cheapo for the otherwise respectable Warner Bros. I suspect the project was mainly to showcase pretty boy Lundigan-- who parades through his part-- in hopes of advancing his career. If so, I doubt that it worked for him any better than it does for the audience.

A stylish programmer. William Lundigan is always appealing and Maris Wrixon is generally fun to have around, if only for her name (though here she is quite good.)

The plot is elaborate and somewhat preposterous. And I guessed the mystery within the first few moments. But it's chic and nicely turned out for a cheapie.