Quiet Please: Murder

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.