Ceia Fatal

Economical B movie that has a snappy pace and some terrific lines. Among the best "The stork that brought you should have been arrested for dope peddling!" Lloyd Nolan is perfect in the lead, attractive but believably an everyday guy that you'd run into as a private detective. Always a reliable supporting player whether cast as a heavy or a hero he gets a chance to hold down the star spot in this. One of the great things about the old lower budget films was the opportunities it presented for the quality secondary actors in A level productions to play parts with a bit more variety. William Demarest and Henry Daniell play their stock characters but as always extremely well and add zing to the picture. Something that probably came and went without much fanfare at its release this is a snappy little pic that will please most viewers.

Lloyd Nolan's Michael Shayne is a refreshingly human private detective, jumping to wrong conclusions and once not even being able to say his own name correctly (you'll see why). The two policemen assigned to the case are delightfully dense.

Shayne is within hours of being married when he and his bride-to-be hear a scream that he investigates. He has to spend the rest of the movie not only attempting to solve the crime but placating and putting off his impatient fiancée. Secret passageways and trapdoors, people who have changed their identities, magicians' sleight of hand, and a hilarious singing-telegram scene add to the tasty mix.

I really enjoyed this and found the humor a welcome addition to the murder investigation.

The third Michael Shayne film Lloyd Nolan made for Fox. This one has hard-boiled detective Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) set to marry his sweetheart (Mary Beth Hughes) but a double homicide in a theatre draws his attention away. Nolan is great in this role. He was made for delivering the snappy dialogue that was the best part of the Michael Shayne films. Mary Beth Hughes is very cute but doesn't get much to do here. She appeared in two other Shayne movies, playing a different character in each one. Nice supporting cast includes William Demarest, Henry Daniell, and pretty Sheila Ryan. Demarest is especially fun. Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter also provide some comic relief. It's a good B detective picture helped by healthy doses of comedy. I also liked the moments of weirdness such as when Shayne first discovers the murder victims in their bizarre costumes. It's a good way to pass the time if you like detective stories.

I sat bolt upright at the end of this movie because it looked as if there was a serious error in the credits. No, I thought, I must be wrong. But I'm not. The movie's streaming on Netflix, so you can see for yourself: 20th Century Fox reversed the names of the two African-American actors who provide some of the brightest points in this bright little movie.

They often entertained as a team, and in this movie Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter play two theater janitors who first appear doing a sweet backstage dance sequence with their brooms while Mary Beth Hughes (too little of her in this movie) sings on-stage but off-screen. I loved it that the filmmakers ignored the girl singer for the greater talents of these two hoofers. Their characters are called Rusty and Sam, with the bigger part going to Rusty, who is played by Moreland, the more famous of the two. But in the final credits, the names are reversed with the roles, crediting Ben Carter as Rusty. Inexcusable. I doubt it ever happened to the Marx Brothers, or even the Ritz Brothers.

Yet IMDb has it right in its Cast and Crew listing. I find that impressive.

The movie's impressive, too-- a B movie with a ridiculously complicated plot with a lot of theatrics, quick-witted dialog, and sure-footed performances by Lloyd Nolan, William Demarest, Henry Daniell, Moreland and Carter, and Mary Beth Hughes-- of whom, as I said, there was far too little screen time. Far too little of her in movies in general, in fact.

"Dressed To Kill" was an excellent murder mystery and the third entry in the Michael Shayne detective series of the 40's. It is the first one I've seen and I enjoyed the way Lloyd Nolan fit the title character like an old shoe. It had a great supporting cast and a story to match, unlike many B murder mysteries of this era which are often formulaic and predictable.

This one took considerable thought, and both the denouement and deus ex machina are pretty clever. Shane/Nolan has to solve a double murder in which the victims are killed at a dinner table with two different guns, and along the way we get to meet some very interesting characters, played by some very interesting character actors. We also find out that he knows nearly everybody within shouting distance, which is a formidable number of people as this is New York City. It creates a cheerfully amiable atmosphere, despite the grumpy Chief Inspector, played by William Demarest in his customary bombastic style. Also on hand is Henry Daniell as a theatrical snob, and Mary Beth Hughes, maybe the prettiest B picture girl who never made the jump to more important pictures.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think I will buy the Shayne collection selling on Amazon. Always appreciate good, solid movie-making and "Dressed To Kill" is a sterling example. It played on FMC the other morning.