L'indésirable monsieur Donovan

I am no insurance expert, but I thought that in cases where someone killed themselves that their beneficiaries did not receive anything. So why would an insurance investigator, Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe), investigate this in the first place? And, why would he try to prove it was a murder? I think this is a HUGE problem with the plot of "Cover Up"...unless I am mistaken.

The story begins with Donovan arriving in town to do his investigation. Surprisingly, most everyone in town either avoids him or lies--and Sam is very tired of it. To make things worse, the Sheriff seems ambivalent when Sam's investigation shows that the man was murdered.

If you can ignore the inconsistency of an insurance investigator trying to make his company pay out the biggest claim instead of the smallest, it is an interesting film. Not a great film but interesting and worth seeing despite its flaws.

By the way, I wish the film had used a ballistics expert to consult, as the film made a couple mistakes I noticed. First, Sam fires a gun (to get a ballistics comparison of the bullet) and IMMEDIATELY picks up the slug with his bare hands. It would be super-hot--and you'd either want to wait a moment or use gloves. Second, one piece of evidence that Sam has that convinces him the dead guy was murdered was that the killer was left-handed. Well, I am a right hander in everything...but I shoot left. This is not too uncommon, actually, as you often shoot based on your dominant eye not your dominant hand.

A good black and white mystery/murder story with some good acting and an interesting mystery that an insurance investigator named Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe) must match wits with the small town sheriff named Larry Best (Willia Bendix) who claims the investigator Sam Donoovan is incorrect in his thinking and should just accept that the death of a prominent man in town was a suicide, and not a murder.

Sam Donovan is suspicious of Sheriff Best's claim of a suicide so he decides to stick around and stick he does, his nose that is. As the town is just in the process of getting ready to light up the towns Christmas tree at their annual street festival the town is advised of another sudden death of the towns beloved doctor from an apparent heart attack. The mystery thickens, and so does the insurance investigator Sam Donovan's affection for a lovely local lass named Anita Weatherby (Barbara Britton).

As the film progresses more clues are discovered that challenge Sam Donovan to question whether the whole town is hiding something about the murder victim who has a $20,000.00 life insurance policy that will pay out double indemnity to the victims niece if in fact it was not a suicide but rather a murder.

The film has some light humour, a new romance blossoming, a Christmas theme, and a battle of wits between the insurance investigator Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe) and Sheriff Best (William Bendix). I liked the film throughout, and I have always been fond of the 1940's period, especial murder/mystery themes. I give the film a 7/10 rating.

Dennis O'Keefe, Barbara Britton and William Bendix star in this mystery about an insurance investigator who arrives in a small town to investigate the death of a policy holder.O'Keefe portrays Sam Donovan who is trying to learn the reason for a clients sudden death . The indifferent sheriff played by Bendix and the rest of the people in the small town who knew the man insist the cause of death was suicide and are openly hostile to Donovan's investigation.Donovan quickly ascertains that the cause of death was really murder, but no one seems to care. Even the niece of the dead man, when she is told by Donovan that there is a double indemnity clause for murder in his policy says that she does not want it. Lovely Barbara Britton plays Anita Weatherby the oldest daughter of the town's banker. She arrives on a bus in to and gets acquainted with Donovan,not knowing who he is or why he has come. She is very attracted to him but when she learns his assignment she becomes apprehensive that the town, her family, and feelings for Donovan will be negatively affected . Cover Up is relatively non violent. You never see the victim and the murder is really only speculation. It even has a hard to swallow morality ending. Nobody gets beat up,or threatened, and the pleas for Sam to just let the investigation go are more passive aggressive then raw anger. Britton is really good as Anita Weatherby in this film and there is a nice turn by Doro Merande as Hilda, the Weatherby's housekeeper, cook, and watch dog. Cover Upis a watchable film. with some dependable actors who give solid performances . A worthwhile way to pass an hour and 15 minutes

A good, economical little b movie, with a wonderful female lead , Britton, who is stunning and a straight faced male lead, O Keefe. Enough red herrings to keep one amused, as long as you are not looking for a classic.

An insurance investigator (Dennis O'Keefe) arrives in a small town right at Christmas time to find out about an apparent suicide that his company may have to pay out for. He's met an attractive inhabitant (Barbara Britton) on the train ride into town. The person who O'Keefe's character is supposed to believe killed himself turns out to have been very unpopular. The evidence of his death points not to suicide but to murder, though everyone in the town from the bus driver to the sheriff (William Bendix) seem totally unfazed about what has happened. This could have been a lot more exciting if the townspeople had gone farther in trying to stop the investigation. They are all so nice and yet this guy is dead, and not by his own hand. So, ergo, it would seem that they are, in fact, not so nice after all, and that this town is covering up murder, though the film seems to be telling us that that is OK, that the dead guy somehow had it coming and that the spirit of Christmas overrides the evil of his murder. Nonetheless, a few parts stand out for being bizarre, most especially the one played by Doro Merande as Hilda, the housekeeper for Barbara Britton and her family, who in one scene is outside setting fire to the dad's fur coat and later tells everyone that it was an accident. All in all, though this is a strange movie, which is a good point, it seems shackled and prohibited from reaching its true realization.