El hombre que no murió

Mike Shayne is back with us in The Man Who Wouldn't Die, one of the last of the seven Shayne movies Lloyd Nolan cranked out in a three-year period. While the acting for the most part is no better than you'd expect in a quickie B, it's got the old dark house cliché down pat. Mike Shayne is called upon to pretend to be the new husband of the daughter of a wealthy businessman, now under investigation back in Washington. The man has a lush, young wife, an obsequious male secretary, an older and discrete butler and a live-in, tall and handsome doctor/scientist. Most of all, the man has a huge, isolated mansion with lots of corridors and rooms. And at night, the shadows are dark, the grounds are scary, a murderer creeps about and a buried corpse has trouble staying buried. Shayne's job is to find out why someone took a shot at his female friend in her bedroom, and why everyone, including her father, insists that it was her imagination. Things get even more dicey when the young lady's real husband shows up.

Lloyd Nolan brings all of Michael Shayne's wise-cracking confidence to life as he puzzles out a murderous mystery that involves revenge and slow breathing. Except for Nolan, the acting is B level clunky. Still, it's always fun to see Olin Howland do his gullible hayseed routine, this time as Police Chief Meek. In a small part as the town's coroner is Jeff Corey, a good actor when given half a chance. To see him at his best, watch his performance as Blinky Franklin in The Killers.

Like all the Michael Shayne mysteries Lloyd Nolan made in the early Forties, nowadays the reason to watch them is Lloyd Nolan. Shayne's good-natured confidence and shrewd thinking is a perfect match for Nolan.

What a great old film. I am lucky enough to have found over the years a mint 16mm sound print an a very good vhs copy (Captain Bejoiu). The story starts out with a very mysterious burial scene on a cold windy nite. There is the "Old Forboding Mansion" and the usual cast of 20th Century stock players including Paul Harvey who is great as Dudly Wolfe. But as usual, Lloyd Nolan steals the show as Shayne with his whimsical irish humor and dapper acting. Marge Reynolds is great as his wife? With the reoccuring thunder storm as a backdrop and the "undead" body with glowing eyes trying to kill any and everyone in the house, it makes for a spine-tingling murder mystery that is as good as most of the sad new ones w/o the sex and overdone violence. 1942 appears to be one of the best years for movies in Hollywood. So many great features with outstanding character actors of the time. LeRoy Mason is great as the "undead" killer who stocks the remaining frightened guests and family at the Wolfe Mansion. If it shows up on Fox Movie Channel, do yourself a favor and watch it!

Another fun Michael Shayne movie starring Lloyd Nolan. Hearing Nolan with his distinctive voice and accent rattling off the snappy patter is music to the ears. This time around private eye Shayne journeys to an estate to help a friend in danger. The friend is played by likable Marjorie Weaver in her second of three Michael Shayne movies. She played a different character in each one. Olin Howland is a great deal of fun as an incomplete police chief. Highlights include a great car chase, some nice old dark house mystery atmosphere, and one particularly effective scene where the camera zooms in on a shadowy figure whose eyes are practically glowing. Cool stuff!

I ended up catching this on the Movies!network-the digital TV channel broad-casted by a lot of fox affiliates. I thought it was a fun movie. Lloyd Nolan was great. I knew him more from his character bits on TV in the 1970s. I really enjoyed him in the McCloud episode of the western cowboys that rob an armored car. This movie had a nice mix between comedy and a nice if not ground breaking mystery story. Great chemistry between Nolan and his costar. I had not seen others in this series but would not mind checking it out. The style reminds a little of the Thin Man series or some of the better written Abbott and Costello movies (I always liked their two mystery type movies Who Done It and Meet The Killer Boris Karloff).

A young woman awakens at night to see a man with glowing eyes staring at her. This man shoots at her but misses and when she tells others, there's no evidence she was there! They act as if it's some sort of dream, but she's sure it isn't.

Now how Michael Shayne gets involved is pretty odd. This same woman later meets him along the road and asks him to pose as her husband. She is apparently married but wants to pass Shayne off as her new husband. None of this made sense--why didn't she just bring her real husband? Why didn't she just tell people that he was a private detective--especially when he found the bullet shot at her--proving someone DID shoot at her! Odd indeed!

In the midst of this mystery, a man takes off from the mansion and is chased by Shayne and the police chief. The car crashes and the man is thrown. The chief very quickly pronounces him dead. Inexplicably, the body disappears later! Was he really dead or did someone steal the corpse? This is all getting very strange and confusing (especially for the audience), as there are lots and lots of seemingly divergent plot points in the film. Supposedly, this is all related somehow to some strange magician, Zorah Bey.

This is an enjoyable Michael Shayne film, mostly due to the seemingly relaxed performance by Lloyd Nolan as Shayne. However, the story is a tad confusing and seems to perhaps have too many twists and turns...but it never is dull. For lovers of B-detective films, this one is certainly worth finding.