Confidential

Donald Cook was a fairly important Broadway actor for a long time, but I could never see him as a lead in films, and he didn't play all that many of them. This is one of those few, however, and indeed he is very good in it; he SOUNDS like a lead, even if he doesn't look like one. And he delivers some very smart repartee in his gangster guise with great vocal dexterity and control - maybe a benefit of his stage acting technique. Anyway, although he is most remembered as James Cagney's honest brother in PUBLIC ENEMY, where his somewhat hangdog expression is appropriate, this would be a far better performance to remember him by. But Evalyn Knapp, an actress for whom I had similarly dim expectations based on perhaps two dozen other films I've seen her in, is really quite perfect in an unusual-for-her role as a fast-talking, quick-witted, somewhat in-the-dark secretary for a numbers racket, and her repartee with Cook, Warren Hymer, Theodore Von Eltz and J. Carrol Naish may be the best thing in the film; every scene she's in perks up simply because of her. Part of this is certainly due to the crack comedic dialog, which has no counterpart in the more dramatic scenes of the film, but even crack comedic dialog is useless if it isn't well-delivered, and Knapp and Cook are almost brilliant in that respect. Hymer is an excellent dimwit (he always was), and Naish, perhaps our greatest non-star character actor of the period (and certainly the most versatile of the entire Hollywood-based talking picture era) is ideal as killer Lefty Tate. As good as are the others, Naish on the screen simply displays an acting dimension quite beyond the others' reach, even as a fairly standard character in this kind of little 'B' crime film. The film is very fast-moving, which may be a detriment in the end, because after bouncing around several facets of the story line, we are suddenly thrust into about a five- or six-minute ending that almost shocks in its ability to tie up so many disparate threads without much regard for continuity. It's like watching CITIZEN KANE with its second hour telescoped into a six-minute conclusion. Despite this, though, it is a very enjoyable film (mostly for the performances) and a most satisfactory way to experience 67 minutes of good "B" film-making.

Oh yes, absolutely the worst gaffe I have ever seen in film credits comes at the beginning of CONFIDENTIAL. I've seen actors' names misspelled, or listed with the wrong character being played, but this is one of those films that uses the excellent practice of showing each of the star actors with a four- or five-second snippet from the ensuing film and with their names printed at the bottom of the screen for identification purposes. Well, in this one, we see the first-billed Donald Cook on the screen and in big letters at the bottom of the screen we see "Donald Woods"!!! I have to assume that Donald Cook never saw the completed film or he surely would have raised holy hell to get that corrected.

Donald Cook isn't quite George Raft in this Mascot Production, but turns in a decent performance as an FBI agent whose partner has been killed. He determines to infiltrate the numbers racketeers responsible at some considerable personal risk and bring the perpetrators to justice. Needless to say he doesn't get a smooth ride and we get an engaging, fast paced hour complete with the usual fisticuffs, Evelyn Knapp brings some "Olive Oyl" style glamour and veteran baddie Theodore von Eltz runs the game. The quality has borne up rather well, and the script isn't as wordy as many of this time/genre. Worth watching.

Confidential: 5 out of 10: An undercover government agent looks to break up the rackets and find the identity of Mr. Big. Romance and occasional gunplay break out.

Well acted in a brisk sixty-five minutes our hero takes on the baddies. It really does remind one of the later serials with the same themes. Confidential does boast better sets and some decent action beats than those serials particularly a plane chase early on. Some of the fun of old movies like these is the background noise that can fascinate a modern audience. Here we have a government agent with a sentimental attachment to a bobblehead of all things. Also a chance to see a 1930's claw machine in an amusement center scene.

I enjoyed it for what it was. Nothing too deep beyond white hats vs. black hats I am afraid.

When his fellow agent gets killed during a bust, G-Man Donald Cook is filled with self-doubt for two or three minutes, then it's on to tackle the syndicate running the numbers racket by befriending dumb crook Warren Hymer, Racket bookkeeper Evalyn Knapp likes him a lot, but doesn't wish to go out with anyone in the racket. The sting depends on figuring out who the mysterious Big Boss is.

Edward L. Cahn directs this Mascot second feature at such a clip that the entire undercover operation seems to take about four days, and about a third of that seems taken up with Hymer's wisecracks; overall it seems that the mystery of who the Big Boss is is a result of underwriting; there are no red herrings.

As a side note, it seems that everyone in the rackets is Old Stock American. A character taken down in the first minute is named Van Cleeve, and the least WASPish name is Hymer's "Lefty Regan." I know this was a couple of years after my father changed his name to Lipton, but at this distance it looks like J. Edgar Hoover's decades-long insistence that there was no such thing as the Mafia was a national delusion.

CONFIDENTIAL is a cheap crime thriller charting the efforts of a number of Federal agents to bring down gangsters running a numbers game. It starts off in an electrifying way with a montage of scenes showing the crooks taking a hold in the city before introducing the protagonists, two-fisted heroes willing to put their lives on the line to take it to the enemy.

The main plot sees an agent going undercover with the criminal gang. Once there he gathers evidence to bring the villains to justice, while at the same time taking time out to romance the pretty Evalyn Knapp. Inevitably he risks discovery at the hands of sinister 'Lefty' Tate, played with relish by popular actor J. Carrol Naish.

Although Donald Cook makes for a bit of a stolid hero, CONFIDENTIAL is quite a good little film. With a running time of 65 minutes it moves smoothly from beginning to end with few slow spots, and saves all the action for the climax. The incidents littering the plot are rather predictable for the modern viewer, but nonetheless the film holds your attention despite the low budget. Warren Hymer's comic turn as the goofy 'Midget' is the highlight.