Mr. Dynamite

Sometimes you can find true quality b-movies like this one. The brevity makes all of the plot twists and turns seem more exciting, and the unfamiliar stars make their actions all the more ambiguous which makes the ending harder to predict.

Baseball player Tommy "Mr. Dynamite" Thornton (Lloyd Nolan) finds himself wrapped up in a murder case when he follows a pretty girl (Irene Hervey) into a Coney Island vaudeville theater who winds up to be sitting next to a murdered man. Vicki claims to be innocent, but lies to Dynamite about her reasons for ducking into the theater. She changes her tune when the cops start to follow her and other more dangerous characters make their presence known. The two enlist the help of baseball fanatic Joey (Ann Gillis) and her eccentric friend the Professor (J. Carrol Naish) to solve the murder and to keep out of jail. Shemp Howard makes an appearance as a phony fortune teller.

The mystery is played out excitingly with plenty of twists and turns, but not too many as to confuse the audience. The actors are all very competent and fun to watch.

Lloyd Nolan plays Tommy Thornton, a professional baseball pitcher nicknamed 'Mr. Dynamite'. During some free time just before the big game, he goes to a carnival for a few laughs. Instead, he gets pulled into the world of espionage and murder. At first, he thinks a lady is the killer, but after chasing her down, he teams up with her and they decide to investigate the case themselves. Naturally, they go where they aren't supposed to and the cops soon think THEY are the killers! So, do they then go to the police and turn themselves in and let the cops investigate? Nah...this is 1941, the era where amateur sleuths are FAR more successful than the cops!

So, obviously, the biggest problem with the movie is the whole investigating crime and espionage on their own...a dopey cliche to say the least. Apart from that the only other major problem is the ventriloquist dummy....who is incredibly racially offensive....so hold on to your seat! Apart from these things, it's an agreeable B-mystery....the sort of film they made by the hundreds back in the day. Nolan, in particular, is good in it.