Sleepers West

Lloyd Nolan is back as Mike Shayne, Private Detective. This time he's escorting Mary Beth Hughes from Colorado to San Francisco. She's a moderately hard-boiled showgirl, and her testimony will make all the difference in a trial. There's a wide variety of characters aboard the train, like reporter Lynn Bari, who's sometimes Nolan's fiancee, now engaged to high-powered attorney Donald Douglas, whose boss is running for governor. There's also Edward Brophy, who's supposed to be a detective, Don Costello, who looks rather suspicious, and Louis Jean Heydt, who claims to be running away from a dull life. But not everyone is who they claim. Some of them are looking for Miss Hughes, hoping to stop her from testifying.

Seems familiar? Yes, it's a remake of 1934's Sleepers East -- sounds like they didn't think too hard about the title. It's based on a story by Frederick Nebel, and the basic situation has been used many times with many variations. This one is pretty good, with Brett Halliday's character slipping right into the proceedings, thanks to Nolan's typically solid performance. There are also a large number of supporting actors that 20th Century-Fox's B division could summon forth, like Oscar O'Shea, Harry Hayden, Ferike Boros, and Mantan Moreland. Just right for a snappy second feature!

In terms of suspense and action, this is one of the weaker entries in the Shayne series. Most of the storyline is confined to a train ride carrying a secret witness to a west coast trial, who Shayne is supposed to protect from those who don't want her to appear. Unfortunately, not much use is made of the confined conditions to build suspense. Then too, we know early on the identity of the witness and who's on board to silence her, so there's not much mystery, either.

Fortunately, there is a sparkling cast, led by the breezy Nolan, along with a brassy Hughes and a bumptious Bari. In fact, Bari and Hughes are natural personality rivals, setting off some delicious undercurrents. Then there's an unheralded threesome of black porters, who contribute humorously to the overall lightweight mood. Look also for Louis Jean Heydt, a familiar face from that era, who does well with a larger than usual role. All in all, it's an entertaining 70-minutes, but not up to the series' trademark mix of suspense plus humor.

"Long Distance? I need to place call to the Denver Tribune... In Denver, yes..." "Shayne" (Lloyd Nolan) is escorting "Helen" (Mary Beth Hughes) on a train journey so she can give vital evidence that might acquit "Callaghan" of murder charges. Needless to say, she's a bit nervous and when she meets "Everett" (Louis Jean Heydt) and explains the purpose of their journey, he plants seeds of doubt in her mind and "Shayne" is now facing quite a task keeping her on message. Add to his woes the suspicious journalist "Kay" (Lynn Bari) who is also travelling and, well, it's all going to get a bit messy. The conclusion is all a bit rushed, but the scenes with Nolan and Bari are usually quite sparky as they spat and outmanoeuvre each other both on and off their train. Trains always make for a good conduit for crime-noirs and here, as it rattles along, we get a sense of a slightly claustrophobic menace building with other passengers equally determined that "Helen" will keep her trap shut. Permanently! It's not the most memorable of films and is just a bit on the long side, but it does move along entertainingly enough and passes the time ok.

'Sleepers West' has a complicated pedigree. In the early '30s, pulp-magazine novelist Frederick Nebel wrote a detective story called 'Sleepers EAST'. The Fox studio bought the rights and filmed this in 1934, but the film 'Sleepers East' is spoilt by some boring romantic elements that dilute the mystery plot. In 1941, Fox remade the story ... changing the plot to make this film an appropriate entry in their 'Mike Shayne' series. They also retitled it 'Sleepers WEST'. The directional change is appropriate to a private-eye story, as westward is the most noir-ish direction: the progression towards sunset ... and death. (Compare this with Rodgers and Hart's 'All Points West', in which the main character dies at the end ... or Lucille Fletcher's radio script and Twilight Zone episode 'The Hitch-Hiker', in which Death and his victim are both heading west on the highway.)

'Sleepers West' is a nice taut little B-picture, a splendid example of those second-feature low-budgeters that Hollywood did so well in the great studio era. Even the film's title pleasingly evokes the 1940s, when sleeping-cars ('sleepers') on American railway trains were commonplace. (On a British railway, 'sleepers' are the wooden ties that hold up the rails.) Movies that take place aboard moving railway trains are always enjoyable: the characters are hurtling along at top speed even if the plot goes off the rails.

Lloyd Nolan had a mug that usually cast him as criminals, but here he's perfect as Mike Shayne, the hard-bitten yet incorruptible private eye. Shayne is escorting Helen Carlson from Denver to San Francisco, where she's to testify in court. Helen's testimony will free a man who's been falsely convicted of murder ... but her testimony will also expose a powerful corrupt politician. So, of course the train to Frisco is chock-full of passengers who want to kill Helen. As if Shayne hasn't enough troubles, there's also one of those stereotypical 1940s 'girl reporter' types (well-played by the vivacious Lynn Bari), who keeps getting in Shayne's way at inconvenient moments.

There are lots of those great supporting roles that nostalgic movie-goers expect in 1940s films like this: I especially enjoyed the great Edward Brophy and the underrated (but prolific) character actor Harry Hayden. Unfortunately, another typical trait of 1940s Hollywood movies makes an unwelcome appearance here: the gratuitous Negro stereotype. In the days of Pullman sleeping-cars, there was a well-organised union of Pullman porters: all of them African-American men. It makes perfect sense that a black actor is cast as the porter in 'Sleepers West'. Regrettably, the role is played by Ben Carter: a plump, simpering, pop-eyed, high-pitched, effeminate black man whom I always find painful to watch on screen. Ben Carter's character portrayals were consistently much more annoying (and possibly more racist) than those of the notorious Stepin Fetchit ... though never quite so annoying as those of Edgar Connor, possibly the most offensive Negro actor in the (no pun intended) dark days of Hollywood stereotypes. Couldn't the railway porter in this movie have been depicted as an ordinary human being: a black man just trying to make an honest living, like pretty much everyone else?

Despite that one cavil, I eagerly rate 'Sleepers West' 9 points out of 10. They don't make 'em like this any more!

"Sleepers West" is a very enjoyable Michael Shayne mystery from 1941. Lloyd Nolan is Shayne, of course, and Mary Beth Hughes is the surprise witness he's trying to get to court before anyone can get at her.

He doesn't have a tremendous amount of luck there, as he runs into his ex-fiancé, reporter Kay Bentley, at the train station, and she's going to be on the same train. And Helen Carlson, the witness, isn't very cooperative. After being brought on board on a stretcher in a black wig, she rips off the wig and wants a drink.

Neat and fast-moving story with Shayne working to clear a criminal who, for once, is innocent, while other people have their own agenda for wanting him found guilty.

Nice, energetic film with the likable Nolan and wisecracking Lynn Bari.