Quiet Please: Murder

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.

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.

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!

"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.

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.