The Nurse's Secret

Regis Toomey, Lee Patrick, Julie Bishop, and Clara Blandick star in "The Nurse's Secret," a 1941 remake of Warner Brothers' "While the Patient Slept" The story concerns a suicide that Inspector Patton (Tooney) thinks is murder. The members of the household all act strangely, and Patton (Toomey) sends in his girlfriend, nurse Ruth Adams (Patrick) to take care of the elderly woman in the home (Blandick) who broke down after finding her nephew's body and to see what she can find out. There are plenty of suspects, as well as things that go bump in the night.

Average film, and I frankly wasn't sure at first if it was supposed to be funny or not as it was so over the top. Patrick had a nice, energetic personality, but it felt like these people were directed to act as if they were on stage rather than before a camera. Way too big.

You'll see lots of familiar faces in this, though: Julie Bishop, George Chandler, Charles Trowbridge, Virginia Brissac - names that might not mean much to you but the faces are instantly recognizable.

It's just okay.

The Nurse's Secret (1941)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Boring mystery from Warner has a man found dead with a gunshot wound to his head. Everyone believes it was suicide but Inspector Patten (Regis Toomey) thinks someone murdered him. To try and turn up some clues, he has his nurse girlfriend (Lee Patrick) enter the home and take care of an elderly woman and sure enough more bodies pile up. THE NURSE'S SECRET is pretty bland from start to finish and in a genre full of bland pictures, this one here has very little going for it. I think I've watched just about everyone one of these type of movies that come on Turner Classic Movies and this here is without question one of the weakest. I think what hurts the film so bad is that it runs just 64-minutes yet it feels much longer than GREED. The entire story isn't all that interesting and it's clear that they're trying way too hard to be mysterious. I say that because there are so many red herrings and each of them are portrayed in such an over-the-top way that it's obvious to tell that none of them are going to turn out to be the killer. With that said, this is one of those films where things just happen for no apparent reason and there's really no crime to figure out because you know that in the end there's going to be a group of people gathered and one of them is going to start singing. Patrick is fairly good in her role as the nurse and I also enjoyed Toomey. Julia Bishop is good as one of the suspects and I also enjoyed Charles Waldron in his part. THE NURSE'S SECRET is only going to appeal to film buffs who must check out every "B" picture that the genre has to offer.

A nurse goes to a mansion to care for an elderly woman who has had a breakdown after finding the body of her nephew – was it an accident? Suicide? Or murder? Who cares? Suspicious characters abound - the butler, the maid, the lawyer, the young woman who is lurking about... Although I'm a fan of 30s and 40s mysteries, this one was just not very entertaining. Lee Patrick and Regis Toomey are good actors but just not convincing as the leads. Patrick has a few snappy lines but not enough to lighten up this movie. Julie Bishop did a nice job in her role as the jealous Florence Lentz. I sure didn't recognize "Aunt Em" in Clara Blandick's portrayal. All in all a pretty pedestrian mystery movie.

A man is discovered dead by gunshot in ailing Clara Blandick's house. It looks like murder, since there's no gunshot residue, but inspector Regis Toomey suspects something is going on. He arranges for his girlfriend, nurse Lee Patrick, to be assigned to Miss Blandick and to look for clues. And, as it turns out to deal with a couple more murders while Toomey arrests a series of suspects.

It's a remake of 1935's WHILE THE PATIENT SLEPT from a Mary Roberts Rinehart story, and a rare lead for Miss Patrick. She had played a lead or two in her first go-around in Hollywood at the dawn of sound, then it was back to Broadway for a few years. Now she was back as a character actress, and a well regarded one. She's good here, with a great scream and a no-nonsense demeanor. There's not much more than the mystery aspect in this B version directed by Noel Smith, but it moves along at a good clip.

Hospital nurse Lee Patrick is sent on special assignment to care for a fragile old lady out at her spooky mansion. Patrick doesn't mind taking the job - she had a date for the evening but her boyfriend the police detective stood her up again.

It's not too surprising, however, when she arrives at the house and finds boyfriend Regis Toomey already there: He's on a case and he has particularly requested her for this nursing job. He's checking into the recent suicide in the house - or was it a murder? - and he wants her help snooping around the place.

Lee Patrick is fine as the clever nurse who readily embraces her role as undercover detective (or Miss Pinkerton, as Toomey calls her, in a nod to the earlier movie version). She mostly plays it straight while the actors around her attempt various levels of eccentricity.

Toomey's role is a mix of serious detective stuff and snappy wisecracks directed at Patrick as well as the houseful of suspects. The dialog isn't especially great but Toomey gives it a game effort.

The rest of the characters really are the usual suspects - doctor, lawyer, victim's girlfriend, butler. It's a well worn plot and so sadly short on surprises, although there is plenty of suspenseful sneaking around in the dark. Overall, a competent if not very exciting B mystery.