Insurance Investigator

This is an effective, fun noir from George Blair, a director I never thought much of before. But this film is efficient, stylish, fast-paced and full of good performances and moments. Denning gives his part a light, breezy touch. Hillary Brooke is very good as the bad girl. John Eldredge is fine as the bad businessman who kills his partner to collect the insurance money -- but lives (for a while) to regret it. The film is well shot and well written. Fine work on everyone's part. Too bad this one isn't available on DVD for people to see. Someone should put the whole Republic library out there -- a lot of lost gems would be discovered. And perhaps a re-appraisal of the works of George Blair is in order.

After two business partners take out double indemnity life insurance policies on each other, one of them dies in a questionable "accident." Ace insurance investigator Richard Denning, posing as a real estate agent, comes to town to find the truth. This 1951 programmer has all the good qualities of a Republic picture-- first rate supporting cast (Reed Hadley, Hillary Brooke, Roy Barcroft), exciting pacing and editing, an efficient and fast-moving script. Richard Denning (best known to younger audiences for his sci-fi films and for his appearances on HAWAII FIVE-0)has just the right combination of sauveness and toughness needed for this type of role. There are enough plot twists and mounting danger to keep everything moving at a fast pace, and overall the film is recommended to fans of 40s/50s B crime films.

Weak script, mediocre direction. Don't be fooled, this isn't Noir, more like the dull Gray of a tired businessman's pantleg. There's no flashback, no tight editing, no macabre shadows or complex framing, no passion. The sexual tension remains at the level of a polite yawn.

Hillary Brooke's feeblest effort, perhaps, and she's a bright spot that gets killed off halfway in. Richard Denning is too flimsy to drive the investigative suspense, downright lacksadaisical. Others are merely dull as ditchwater but I don't blame the actors.

This is cops'n'robbers light, verging on the middlebrow TV to come - with a few vintage car chases to alleviate the ennui.

Audrey Long's father leaves the office late, and is slugged on the stairs. The police report it as an accident due to his drunkenness, but insurance company head Jonathan Hale thinks there have been too many double indemnity claims paid out recently. He sends in Richard Denning to investigate insurancely. While Denning wanders around with a cornpone accent dating all the women, Reed Hadley, in charge of the bumping-off racket makes plans.

It's a dull movie with a dull name, as only the bad guys do anything until the end. Denning is handsome, Miss Long is good looking in a 1950s fashion, and Hillary Brooke seems to sleep around.

Richard Denning and Audrey Long are 2 of the most underrated actors and why neither became super famous is a mystery to me. Denning had a long career and his low-key but highly effective acting talents have elevated many a B film to watchability. Audrey Long was elegant, beautiful and talented and the chemistry between the 2 stars in this one is wonderful. The plot is nothing special but has a few twists and turns and bad girl Hillary Brooke is around to stir things up for a while. It builds to an edge of the seat climax which is great fun to watch and parts of it are even rather nasty for 1951. The ending has some wildly crazy implausibilities which include the fact that nobody ducks even where their car is being shot at right through the windshield and the police in dealing with a group of thugs and gangsters seem to be limited to one car and very few men (is the movie that low budget?) but never mind-- it's been so much to watch and this one is a real sleeper. Too bad they couldn't have come up with a better title. I had the pleasure of having dinner with the great director and editor Robert Wise and his charming wife some years ago when he was "only" 84 and I told him that I thought my favorite actress of all he directed in his many many films was Audrey Long and he looked really startled and said "but she was only some contract player". I was so disappointed to hear that because her work when seen now positively shines. She had a fabulous life and lifestyle, traveling all over the world as the 4th and enduring wife of Leslie Charteris who created The Saint and was an internationally known gourmet and high liver. She must have had a ball living that fine life but too bad she didn't get to be as famous as she deserves, along with so many of the fine fine actresses we get to watch in the old movies: Ann Dvorak, Irene Hervey, Joan Marsh, Joan Woodbury and Wanda McKay and so many more forgotten ladies but for us diehards. Watch this movie if you like good old fashioned adventure and crime films and I'll bet you will like it!!