No Hands on the Clock

Humphrey Campbell is a private detective working for a small agency specializing in missing persons cases. In his latest case, he tracks down a missing heiress and then calls his boss, Oscar Flack, and tells him that he won't be bringing the heiress, Louise, home because he and Louise just got married and they're going on a honeymoon. Oscar tells Humphrey that an important case has come up - a rancher in Nevada's adult son has gone missing. Oscar convinces Humphrey to investigate and on their way to Reno, Humphrey and Louise stop at a bank and end up in the middle of a bank holdup led by one Red Harris. Then in Reno, Oscar convinces Humphrey to take the case even though Humphrey is disinclined to do so because the FBI are involved but Oscar sweetens the deal by promising Louise a fur coat. The whole plot becomes increasingly complicated with a slew of suspects. Chester Morris plays Humphrey as a wise cracking, fast talking character just like his more famous Boston Blackie character. And what an entertaining character it is. My favorite scene is when the milk drinking Humphrey orders a glass of milk from bartender Jack Norton. Norton's reaction to this request is a hoot especially since Norton is most famous for his bit roles playing a drunk although in real life Norton was a teetotaler. The whole movie is fun throughout. Jean Parker does a very nice job as the feisty Louise and she and Morris have a great chemistry together. It was also fun spotting some favorite character actors such as Dick Purcell, George J. Lewis, and Milburn Stone. Available at Internet Archives and YouTube, this movie is well worth seeking out.

Chester Morris plays investigator Humphrey Campbell who searches for runaways and others for Flack's Missing Persons Bureau. As the film opens he has married a runaway woman who had just got bored with her home-life. They are in a bank while it is being robbed by the Red Harris gang. Campbell takes on another job while he is honeymooning in Nevada which leads him into all sorts of trouble.

Hal Benedict had gone missing for two weeks leaving his father and fiance wondering what sort of trouble he had got himself into. Campbell begins his search at the Nugget Room at a local club where Hal was known to frequent. Campbell gets involved with a fast blonde and the murder of an ex showgirl and the Red Harris gang show up again. Campbell's fingerprints found in the murder room and his identity confused with a lookalike informer means he is in trouble with people on both sides of the law.

This works well as a crime comedy but it is impaired as a mystery by having too many characters in it. We have to deal with characters who are spoken of but who never appear in the action. You will have to pay really close attention to fathom what's really going on. There are some novel ideas in this but some of these just get a brief mention.

I think there were plans to feature Chester Morris as the Humphrey Campbell character again but this was just a one-off. He had already done a Boston Blackie movie and that's the character that really proved to be a winner for him in the 1940s.

This is a terrific unknown B-picture from the Pine-Thomas outfit at Paramount. Chester Morris plays a fast-talking (and thinking) private dick who drinks milk instead of whiskey. Jean Parker is his sassy, lacto-intolerant new bride. There are plenty of other good character turns, especially by Astrid Allwyn as a hot-to-trot barfly. Although the plot (from Geoffrey Homes of "Out of the Past" fame) is intriguing, it's a bit too complex for such a short programmer. However, the repartee and character "bits of business" are top-notch, and journeyman director McDonald maintains a breakneck pace while slipping in some clever camera angles. The cryptic title refers to a clock that represents eternity, located outside a funeral home facing the hero's hotel. Worth seeking out.

Chester Morris stars as an investigator who finds lost persons. In his latest case, he found a woman (Jean Parker) and married her and is planning on a nice honeymoon in Reno of all places (nothing says romance than this city famed for its divorces!). Soon, however, Chester's pesky boss locates them and convinces him to take one more 'easy case'. Well, naturally the case is anything but easy and involves lots of peril. Can the couple manage to finish the case and survive at least long enough to consummate their marriage?

There isn't anything especially deep or memorable about this film--it's a low- budgeted B-mystery and Hollywood made a bazillion of these back in the 30s and 40s. It's a bit better than many simply because Morris is so good in such roles and Parker is cute as his rather clueless bride--though I must admit that the plot is a bit more complicated and confusing than the norm.

Chester Morris and Jean Parker star in this mystery that seems to have more comedy than mystery. They are newlyweds and are about to go on their honeymoon, when he is hired to find a missing person, as Chester is a detective. This film has a very relaxing and natural feel to it, as Chester and Jean banter back and forth. The viewer enjoys their company so much, you wish you could hang out with them for all the excitement and fun and games, particularly Chester. One might call it the Dean Martin trait. (They seem like the poor man's Nick and Nora Charles.) I tried to follow the mystery, as someone is indeed murdered. I did follow it, up the last 20 minutes or so. But what this has going for it is good company. If you're lucky enough to find this unknown little mystery, you've got one little gem, that has charm in spades.