O Rastro Invisível

GEORGE BRENT doesn't display much enthusiasm for his role as a police detective who finds that his ex-sweetheart (MARGARET LINDSAY) is the chief suspect in the murder of a wealthy playboy. There are several suspects under police grilling and all of them tell their stories in brisk flashback technique that keeps the plot spinning in all directions so that all options are on the table in guessing "who done it." It's a ploy that doesn't work well here. A more straight-forward approach would have worked better in keeping the plot from getting too cluttered. By the time we reach a conclusion, the viewer is left hoping the story is over once and for all. What does work is showing the behind-the-scenes methods the crime labs perform in solving a case.

It's a programmer given what little life it has by a capable cast of Warner supporting players including Ken Murray, Hobart Cavanaugh, Dorothy Burgess, Eugene Palette, Theodore Newton and others and benefits from brisk direction by William Dieterle.

Summing up: A more polished script would have helped and George Brent seems too detached on this occasion to make much of his detective role.

From Headquarters is a rather contrived and convoluted murder mystery but its brisk running time of 64 minutes and economic cross cut editing give the film more of a vitality than one would expect with the stolid George Brent in the lead. Clichés abound but a gallows humor among the precinct set nullifies them much of the time as the cops turn the screws on the suspects and the supporting cast steals most of the film.

It's another day down at headquarters of processing common criminals and chasing leads while reporters slovenly lie about waiting for a big story which comes in the way of the murder of a lecherous, blackmailer. Detectives Stevens (Brent) and Boggs (Eugene Palette) are given the case but approach it differently. Forensics meanwhile jumps into high gear gathering evidence through devious means and the killer as well as the victim remains in doubt until the final moments.

With the exception of the retiring Brent From Headquarters entire cast plays it broad and over the top. Margaret Lindsay's suspect and also the ex of Steven's divides her time between being stilted and hysterical while Palette's Sgt. Boggs spends the entire film lunging like a mad bulldog at all the suspects. In the same respect Hugh Herbert's overzealous bail bondsman, Robert Barrat's unctuous rug dealer and Edward Ellis's dark humored pathologist fit well into the spirit of the film.

Director William Dieterle and cameraman William Rees provide a decent look and rhythm to From Headquarters most of the way evoking in moments comparison to His Girl Friday and The Detective Story but its incredulous story line can only elevate it at best to a decent Charlie Chan.

I imagine that this 1933 Warner Brothers offering is among the first, if not THE first, of the police procedurals. Alas, it is not one of the better ones. Saddled with an extremely dull murder mystery (kind of like Agatha Christie on Darvon) director William Dieterle overcompensates with florid direction that results in hammy performances from usually good actors like George Brent, Eugene Pallette and Margaret Lindsay. And the members of the forensics unit act like The Hardy Boys meet Mad Scientists. However, for being a pioneer entry in a most worthy genre let's give this one a generous C plus.

I'm betting that George Brent got the lead in From Headquarters because Pat O'Brien had not arrived at Warner Brothers. O'Brien was cast in the lead in the very similar Bureau of Missing Persons and he fit the part of a detective so much better.

Still and all Brent does all right with the part as one of two detectives assigned to the murder of a well known man about town. Only this particular man was seeing Brent's former flame Margaret Lindsay and she's a suspect.

Brent and Lindsay get good support from Eugene Palette who is carrying over his Sergeant Heath character from Philo Vance and Henry O'Neill as the chief inspector.

Two characterizations that should be noted are Robert Barrat as a rather sophisticated, but inpatient suspect who does in his own alibi and Hobart Cavanaugh as a safecracker who really manages to get himself murdered at police headquarters.

One guy I don't think belonged was Hugh Herbert who brought his 'woo woo' act into a serious film as a wacky bail bondsman. I guess someone at Warner Brothers thought he'd be good comic relief, but not here. Also Dorothy Burgess as another murder suspect was way over the top.

Look fast and you'll see Frank McHugh right at the beginning of the film as one of a group of prisoners being brought into the station in a paddy wagon. He gets a line to speak and his voice is unmistakable.

From Headquarters is a not bad B picture that played well on a double bill with their more well known gangster stars.

There are two cases being investigated here. One is a safe cracking case, and the other the murder of a wealthy playboy that was initially thought to be suicide. These two cases coincide.

In the first case the suspects are narrowed down by entering criteria into what passed for a primitive computer - without semiconductors. The murder case is more complex. The police start with the playboy's fiancee, Lou Winton (Margaret Lindsay), and there just get to be more and more suspects from there. The complicating factor is that Lou was homicide detective Stevens' (George Brent's) girlfriend before she was the playboy's fiancee.

Fingerprint technology, ballistics, autopsies, and blood testing are all mentioned. And like any WB film of the era there is an interesting cast of supporting characters running around - Hugh Herbert as an overenthusiastic bail bondsman, Ken Murray as an obnoxious crime reporter, Edward Ellis as a medical examiner who loves his work, and Dorothy Burgess as a crazy woman - she did that kind of role so well.

Eugene Pallette is in one of his less cuddly roles as Sgt. Boggs who seems to want arrest everybody for the murder. And you get to see something I don't think I've seen before in a 30s film - the police switchboard employs entirely male operators. At a little more than an hour it doesn't wear out its welcome, and I recommend it.