Nancy Steele Is Missing!

1937's "Nancy Steele is Missing!" features its title as a screaming newspaper headline, the infant daughter of munitions manufacturer Michael Steele (Walter Connolly), in the days leading up to America joining in the First World War. The kidnapper is Dannie O'Neill (Victor McLaglen), a Steele employee so dedicated to pacifism that he resorts to this drastic step just to keep his nation out of battle. Leaving the baby with friends who believe him to be away working aboard ship, O'Neill foolishly attacks two cops sent to arrest him for assault, turning a two year prison term into 20 by taking the blame for a failed jailbreak orchestrated by taunting Cockney convict Harry Wilkins (John Carradine). O'Neill has a cellmate, the bespectacled killer Professor Sturm (Peter Lorre), foolishly caught because he attended his victim's funeral, 'curious to see what they could do about that hole in his head!' Once O'Neill is released, he intends to continue his long delayed blackmail scheme, unaware of the lurking presence of the dangerous Sturm, who has also bided his time, like a cobra waiting to strike. It's an oddly sympathetic portrait of a kidnapper, not generally allowed by the Hays Code, intended for Wallace Beery (who balked at working for director Otto Preminger, replaced by George Marshall), but a much better fit for Victor McLaglen, whose pacifist never convinces, forever looking for a fight, and usually finding it. Still new to Hollywood, and just before beginning his Mr. Moto series at Fox, the quiet and amusing Peter Lorre makes off with the whole picture, his diminutive appearance belied by his overpowering stature in the prison, the other inmates keeping their distance out of respect...or fear. The clean shaven John Carradine, sporting a truly dreadful Cockney accent, only gets a couple of scenes to taunt Dannie, calling him 'a dirty spy' as he goads him into starting the jail break, in at the 18 minute mark, out at 33, still smirking at O'Neill's misfortune. Lorre and Carradine would do seven more pictures together- "Thank You, Mr. Moto," "I'll Give a Million," "Mr. Moto's Last Warning," "Around the World in Eighty Days," "The Story of Mankind," "Hell Ship Mutiny," and "The Patsy" (Lorre's last film).

Victor McLaglen's wife has died, and he broods over it and the scars he has accumulated. He settles on munitions manufacturer Walter Connolly and kidnaps his infant daughter, then hands him to his sister and brother-in-law, and prepares to leave. Before he can, he's picked up on another charge and spends twenty years in prison, with Peter Lorre as his puling cell mate. Released, he goes to find his sister long dead, his brother-in-law dying, and the kidnapped girl, June Lang, delighted with her father. Connolly, whom he runs into, is sympathetic, and offers him a job as a gardener on his Long Island estate. As his fondness for Miss Lang grows, he finds that Lorre has stolen his papers proving her identity and offered another woman as Connolly's daughter.

It seems a role tailor-made for the star of The Informer, even though the part was offered to Wallace Beery with Otto Preminger as director. Attitudes ensued, and. George Marshall wound up directing and.... well, something's wrong. Perhaps it's McLaglen's constant attitude of sullenness, perhaps it's Barney McGill's crime-drama cinematography. The story is still interesting, but what emerges on the screen is interesting, rather than compelling.

Another pleasant surprise in weekend of good dramas. The plot may have been convoluted at times but strong performances by the leads carried it through. Victor McLaglen (Variety called it his best performance since The Informer) plays a club waiter who is so against the entry of the United States into World War I that he kidnaps the baby of munitions manufacturer Walter Connolly. His plans are foiled when, after arranging to have the child watched by innocent friends, he is arrested and jailed for another, lesser crime. The friends believe McLaglen is a widowed sailor and raise the child as if it were truly his. McLaglen spends 20 years in prison trying to keep his secret from cellmate, creepy Peter Lorre. When finally released, McLaglen locates the girl and still plans to get money from Connolly. But before he can set up the pay off, Connolly recognizes McLaglen from his former job at the gentleman's club and offers him a job as caretaker of his estate. And to complicate matters the girl, now grown up, believes McLaglen to be her long lost father and loves him as such. McLaglen chooses to go straight as he begins to care for the would-be daughter he has never known. Lorre, now released from prison, reveals that McLaglen talked in his sleep and now he intends to collect the reward for turning in the kidnapper… Thank god for film festivals like this one that make rare films like this available and the folks who provide comments to IMDB for others to share. Please support the IMDB and early film festivals!

The daughter of Walter Connolly (Michael) goes missing at the same time that his waiter Victor McLaglen (Dannie) produces a child of similar age out of nowhere. He hands the baby girl to a couple to look after claiming he is off to sea and asking that they look after her until he returns. Well, you can put two and two together and realize where the kidnapped girl is. Unfortunately, McLaglen gets himself into some trouble with the law and gets 20 years in jail. In the meantime June Lang (Nancy) grows up as "Sheila". Will McLaglen own up when he gets out?

The story keeps you watching and situations and circumstances are constantly evolving. The cast are all good and McLaglen has you rooting for him even though he is a kidnapper. He shows a human side and there are also comedy elements when Shirley Deane turns up as a fake Nancy. Watch out for Peter Lorre (Prof Sturm) and John Carradine (Harry) who pop us prison inmates and put in memorable performances. You may forget about Peter Lorre but that would be a mistake. He is very cunning and all of a sudden.....he's back........

The film turned out better than I thought it would be and that is thanks to the cast, especially McLaglen in the lead role. He can act, he's not just a lunkheaded thug.

Watching George Marshall's "Nancy Steele Is Missing", I wondered if it was partly based on the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby (apparently one of the biggest news stories of the early '30s). Victor McLaglen puts on an intense performance as a man who kidnaps his boss's daughter in the hopes of keeping the US out of World War I. Sent to jail for an unrelated crime, he gets out years later and meets the girl, who knows nothing of what happened. But there's still more to come.

I interpreted the movie to mean that you can never fully predict how a scheme will go, especially when it involves something questionable. The dim lighting emphasizes the intensity; it's the sort of movie that makes you feel as if you're walking on eggshells. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but the performances and direction make up for any shortcomings.