The Mystery Man

I like Monogram movies - you can generally be sure of two things - (1) the movies will be entertaining and (2) there will be either a silly plot or a plot with big enough holes in it to drive a truck through. And this movie is no exception. Robert Armstrong's Larry Doyle is a cock-sure but good reporter for a Chicago newspaper. The police respect him (indeed, they give him a gun to show their appreciation for his help with a case) but his editor can't stand him. Larry spends his $50 bonus on treating his pals to a night on the town. His editor fires him but Larry goes on celebrating and winds up in St. Louis where he befriends a down and out but spunky young woman, Anne Ogilvie (played by Maxine Doyle). One of my favorite bits in the movie is where Larry secretly pays for the Anne's coffee and donut when she finds out she doesn't have enough money. Larry sees himself as the Anne's protector and because of Larry's moxie, they end up staying in a hotel suite (with two bedrooms). In spite of his former editor's trying to prevent it, Larry eventually gets a job on the St. Louis News. He is soon hot on the trail of the notorious criminal known as "The Eel." The rest of the movie doesn't make much sense but all's well that ends well. Armstrong does a good job but does not do the snappy reporter type as well as Chester Morris or Wally Ford. However, he does such scenes as that at the coffee shop better than they so it all evens out. I had never heard of Maxine Doyle and she did a somewhat surprisingly good job as Anne. A pleasant enough way to spend an hour.

Just bearable, just bearable, that's what I have to say about this amusing and after all fast paced film from the thirties, a feature about which I did not expect anything special. And I was damn right. Plot offering something seen ten million times before but, I repeat, for those of you who crave about such films, you can proceed without problem. Those mystery yarns were galore in this thirties period. This is not a real crime film as I crave for, because you have a good hero for whom you can foresee the ending. You have gangsters, armed robbery yes, but that's not enough for me to qualify it as a crime movie. But it remains a good little B picture.

The Mystery Man (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent mystery from Monogram has Robert Armstrong playing newspaper reporter Larry Doyle who after a big story gets a revolver as a gift. Later in the picture he's in need of money so he pawns the gun and is later arrested for a murder that was done using the same gun. Now Doyle must prove that he actually pawned the gun and that the killer known as The Eel was the real murderer. THE MYSTERY MAN is a fairly entertaining movie, although the story I've just given really doesn't tell everything. This thing clocks in at just 61-minutes and the murder doesn't take place until around the 37-minute mark, which should tell you a couple things. For starters, there's a lot of early filler in the film that probably could have been left and and in all honesty it probably should have been left out. The only problem then is that you wouldn't be left with a movie. The second problem is that the solving of the case happens in the final twenty minutes and in many ways this was simply way too fast for the crime to be solved. With that said, fans of Armstrong as well as the genre should find the material good enough to keep you entertained through the short running time. As you'd expect, Armstrong has no problems playing the smart aleck reporter who is constantly rubbing people the wrong way until he's finally the one being pushed around. Maxine Doyle is also very good as the woman who ends up helping the reporter on his mission. The two stars have some nice chemistry together and their work certainly helps keep the film moving. The biggest problem with the picture is that there's a bit too much comedy and sadly the majority of it never works. Still, the majority of the people remains entertaining as long as you're not expecting THE MALTESE FALCOLN or some sort of classic.

Following a drunken night out, an ace Chicago reporter loses his job. Arriving in St. Louis penniless, he meets a girl in a similar position and they team up. After a gun he pawned is used in a murder, they have to solve the crime to avoid arrest.

Average crime story with just a touch of humour but really needing a stronger script. However, despite this, Robert Armstrong does the best that he can and gives a decent performance. Maxine Doyle plays the girl.

Cinematic archeology is what this is all about. The film has lost all its appeal as the hooks have gone out of style. But we can see major chunks that have evolved to what we have now.

The basic setup is the fold of a reporter as a detective, a miraculously simple concept in narration, as his job is to 'get the story.'

He has an easy hookup with a perky girl, though cleanly post-code.

Our reporter is an adventure-loving party man (which then meant an occasional drunk) who cannot keep money and who hates authority.

The environment is one in which police are inept and essentially invisible, and 'the paper' runs the town behind the scenes. You can easily see the seeds of noir here.

Oh, and we have a stereotyped villain, a mystery man who calls himself The Eel and who calls to taunt police (represented by the DA).

Good digging here, if you have the patience.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.