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This was a perfect vehicle for self-professed cad George Sanders and he found a gal more than his match in cold blooded Gail Patrick here. They share some surprisingly frank and witty badinage about criminal psychology along with their mutual oily distaste for humanity which transcends the occasionally breezier aspects of this quasi noir and gives it a nicely crusted edge. The movie veers back and forth between crime drama and something a bit lighter but overall, it hits a lot of good notes and has dated surprisingly better than many far more famous movies from the same era. The library antics are amusing enough, but the real selling point of this movie is Sanders, whose effortless cool is right up there near his best and far more recognized roles.

Jim Fleg (George Sanders) is a scumbag who has stolen an original folio of Hamlet AND is now selling forged versions. Can it get worse? Yes, he's a police lieutenant! Unfortunately for Fleg, he trusts a dealer to sell his forgeries...but she is really unscrupulous and stupid and sells one of them to folks Fleg warned her NOT to sell to. Why? Because that agent is purchasing the folio for top Nazis...and if they find out it's a forgery, they won't go to the cops...they'll go for their heads! Soon Hal McByrne (Richard Denning) gets involved in investigating the case and trying to figure out what's really happening.

This B has excellent acting, very good writing and better than average production values. If the film weren't only about an hour long, you might swear it's an A picture. Well worth your time.

Master forger of rare books (Sanders) gets mixed up with Nazis (Blackmer), a detective (Denning) and a double-crossing dame (Patrick).

The convoluted script may take a Rosetta Stone to solve, still it's a slickly done TCF programmer. Those two smoothies Sanders and Patrick are well cast as a couple of A-team masochists, engaged in a game of one-upmanship and about as trustworthy as rattlesnakes. In fact, Patrick's character qualifies for the Devious Dame Hall of Fame, with her warm personality and stone cold heart. Still, I'm a bit surprised that some of that pain-loving dialog Sanders relishes made it past the censors. Usually old Hollywood just hinted at such things instead of belaboring them.

Denning and Roberts are clearly America's team, though Denning may wobble at times. One thing for sure—set design and art direction come cheap since most of the action takes place in a single setting, a library. Still, director Larkin keeps things moving. And get a load of baldy Kurt Katch's mute Nazi. He's about as inviting as the polar ice cap and just as chilling. But, I'm still wondering which thug belongs to which gang, which does get confusing.

Oh well, things do sort out, I think. Then too, it's 1942 and the war is still in doubt. Byron Foulger's officious little air warden may be on the silly side, but the blackouts weren't. These old movies do show us things the history books can't. Anyhow, the movie may be nothing to write home about. But it's still impressive how Hollywood could turn out such slick little programmers in the middle of a big war.

John Larkin being a director I had never heard of, I checked up his details on IMDB and learned that he did more TV than cinema work. In fact, to kick off with he fittingly titled this opus QUIET PLEASE: MURDER - as pretty much the entire action takes place inside municipal library premises.

To add to the claustrophobia, this is 1942, WWII rages on, and alllights have to be switched off so that the building does not turn into a target - which I find rather odd, as I do not believe that any US mainland city has ever become the target for any aircraft bombing raids.

The action opens with Jim Fleg (superbly portrayed by the mellifluously persuasive George Sanders) icing the guard of a unique first edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet (people still read plays in those days!) and then forging copies of it to sell to not so up to speed collectors.

The scheme, implemented with the aid of sultry Gail Patrick as slippery, serpentine Myra Blandy, who reportedly has Nazi connections and keeps declaring her fake love to Sanders and Richard Denning (apt choice for the role of copper Hal McByrne) works well until Martin Cleaver, a more knowledgeable collector, happens on the scene to snap up one of the forged Hamlets.

The script boasts some highly literate dialogue - particularly in the sequences involving Sanders - and some sharp one-liners from Denning.

Sadly the blurred copy that I watched hurt the quality of the cinematography... but not the film's dark, closed atmospheric ambiance.

Well worth a watch! 7/10.

George Sanders ("Fleg) is up to no good in this light-hearted tale of theft and forgery. He has pinched an original Shakespeare folio and has been subsequently flogging copies. Unfortunately for him, his selling agent "Myra" (Gail Patrick) is none too bright and when she inadvertently sells one of his copies to a Nazi - their very lives are soon in peril, and it might actually be policeman "McByrne" (Richard Denning) who comes to their rescue! The acting is good, the writing quite pithy and it packs quite a lot into 70 minutes. Maybe the production is a touch basic; the settings are all a bit too static, but unlike so many of these cheap and cheerful B features, this one has a decent story that is actually quite enjoyable to watch.

A competent B-noir, with the interesting twist of being set in a library. George Sanders' erudite villain is an oily delight; otherwise it's a somewhat overwrought collection of hard-boiled detective film cliches.

A really good cast, consisting of George Sanders, Gail Patrick, Richard Denning, and Sidney Blackmer stumble through "Quiet, Please: Murder," a 1942 film produced by 20th Century Fox.

I unfortunately saw a very poor print of this with fuzzy sound, which naturally hampered my enjoyment. The plot concerns a rare book scam, headed by Jim Fleg (Sanders) and Myra Blandy (Patrick). Fleg steals a rare book from the library, makes copies, sells them as stolen goods, and Blandy verifies the book's authenticity. When Myra insists on selling a fake book to a Nazi, against Fleg's orders, trouble ensues. A detective, Hal McByrne (Richard Denning) becomes involved and falls for Myra, who is playing him against Fleg.

Most of Fleg's dialogue is psychobabble, as he analyzes Myra and himself as people who like pain and desire punishment, etc. The story is convoluted, with Fleg, posing as a police officer, coming to the library to investigate a murder. He takes the opportunity to steal rare books, saying they need to be under police protection. The books are then stolen by Hal and consequently stolen by Myra.

It all gets pretty confusing, and if you could have seen the characters throwing around these supposedly fragile, valuable books without wearing gloves or taking any kind of care, it's too much. It's always great to see Sanders and Patrick (who, as Gail Patrick Jackson, wound up as producer of the Perry Mason TV series) - he makes a great villain and she's a wonderful femme fatale.

All in all, disjointed and disappointing.

This thriller about murder, double dealing and betrayal in the forged book racket starts out promisingly, but all too quickly any real plot is abandoned and things just starts going around in circles. The premise and the cast deserved a much tighter, richer story. Still, it has enough style to just get by.

George Sanders has a nice business. He steals rare books, like Burbage's copy of the First Folio, from the library, forges exacting copies, and sells them to suckers through Gail Patrick. If he has to shoot a library guard, that's part of the business. However, when Miss Patrick sells a copy to an agent of high-ranking Nazis, Sanders knows that's not good business. So it happens when he's next at the library to pick up some merchandise, there's a murder. He takes charge, claiming to be a police officer. However, PI Richard Denning is on site, trying to track down the missing books for a sizable reward....

There's a lot of flair in the script and performances, some discussion of how the crooks enjoy the terror of being at risk, but this Fox B movie istoo complicated for the simple solutions that are offered at the end. It's very watchable, with some fine actors like Byron Foulger, Sidney Blackmer and Lynne Roberts, but ultimately unsatisfying.

George Sanders (Fleg) is a book forger who, in collaboration with phony forgery expert Gail Patrick (Myra), carves out a wealthy lifestyle by selling his "original" Shakespeare copies to the rich. However, Patrick makes a mistake by selling one of these fakes to well-connected Nazi Sidney Blackmer (Cleaver) who demands his money back. At the same time, detective Richard Denning (McByrne) is also sold a fake book and is looking to crack the case. Everyone meets in a library for a showdown.

The film starts off alright with Sanders in a typical villainous role, but I'm afraid interest just seeps away. Everything gets complicated, there are far too many characters and henchman to understand who is siding with who and it ends up being a lot of people running around in a library. Totally unbelievable, a quite preposterous plot and some pretty stupid dialogue with meaningless psychobabble. I just wanted it to stop.

Having said that, I've never known so much activity to go on in a library. They are usually full of obnoxious teenagers talking really loud, tramps sitting around, old people reading newspapers and I remember using the place to crash out after a hard night's drinking or whatever else I'd been up to. I'd rather spend the length of this film in an actual library rather than watch the film.

Finally, I remember being in our school library at the same time as a peculiar looking guy from the year below me. He was peculiar because he had recently died his hair gold. Not blonde……Gold…!! Anyway, I have to applaud him in his outlook on literature. I remember him saying aloud "Shakespeare! On the floor!" in disgust as he picked up the Shakespeare book and placed it carefully back on the shelf. I found it funny but it also made me view the notion of respect in a different light. He was genuinely offended by the fact that a Shakespeare book had been discarded on the floor. And I really liked him after that incident. I googled him recently and discovered that he has won some military honours in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan and is a Colonel and expert in military planning. Anyway, I see him as how George Sanders could have turned out if only Sanders had shown Shakespeare a little more respect. Even though I know that at school he died his hair gold! Ha ha.

Worth watching for George Sanders dialogue alone. Obviously a B movie with a very limited budget but its a lot of fun to watch. If you're a George Sanders fan like me you wont be dissapointed!

This film is terribly uninteresting. The characters are one dimensional and the script lacks depth. It doesn't look as though the writer has made any effort to engage the audience with a believable storyline or interesting characters. The only reason why I watched it is because George Sanders is in it. When he is presented with a good script under a good director his performance really soars. This film has neither a good script nor a good director. The performances at best are mediocre, and even Sanders without a good script and director shows the holes in his acting. The film is utter crap, and the only thing it is good for is to be relegated to the dustbin.

"Quiet Please, Murder" is an odd movie that grows on you. Notice I didn't say Noir, or even Mystery - it's more of a drama/ romance in the 'B' mold. There must have been a headline movie billed over it because it couldn't stand on its own.

Having said that, it's a fast-paced, compelling picture with an interesting cast that takes place mainly a city library. George Sanders, Hollywood's most polished bad guy, is a forger of priceless manuscripts and Gail Patrick is his legman (woman). They make the mistake of selling one to Sidney Blackmer, a frontman for the Nazis, who were trying to corner the market on rare art and literature. Richard Denning is a private eye who is hot on Sanders' trail.

There is an undercurrent between Sanders and Patrick of some Freudian psychological aberration regarding sado-masochism which may or may not be an interesting plot twist. I thought Denning lacked gravitas and the part needed someone else. Byron Foulger, who must have made a thousand movies, is on hand as a librarian - you would recognize him immediately.

And just when you think the picture is becoming a little far-fetched, it is over, as it is only 70 minutes long. All it would have needed was one more plot contrivance or loose end and I would have lowered my rating. This film played on TCM the other morning.

I really wanted to like this movie because I like George Sanders and I love old mystery movies. The setting was good the plot fairly interesting but unfortunately Richard Jennings ruins the movie for me. Obviously he was cast for his looks but he's a ham actor That Makes his character annoying with overacting. The whole time he was in the movie I was rooting for him to get shot and the bad guys to win. I was disappointed.

Another reviewer suggested a better, more realistic ending (but one that would've been acceptable in 1942, when good had to triumph over evil at the movies). So I can see how some might prefer a more postmodern version.

But I think the clichés of this film are good campy fun. It's been a very long time since I found a movie this good that I've never seen before. So I see it as a superb relic to be treasured.

It's a charming film noir crime caper, stagy and clumsy at times, but with a very smooth George Sanders as the rather mild villain, and surprisingly smart banter throughout. It has a good formulaic story that doggedly ties up all loose ends into a neat package. It moves very quickly for its age, and is pretty easy to follow, despite the plot being somewhat complex.

I'm very excited to have stumbled across it.

This engrossing and literate film is all but forgotten except by classic movie buffs. Enjoyed watching George Sanders play George Sanders and Gail Patrick play Gail Patrick. Richard Denning just fine. Great fun.