A Shot in the Dark

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Ricardo Cortez, William Lundigan, Regis Toomey, and Nan Wynn in A Shot in the Dark (1941)

Homicide detective Bill Ryder reluctantly teams up with wise-cracking newshound Peter Kennedy to solve a pair of murders.Homicide detective Bill Ryder reluctantly teams up with wise-cracking newshound Peter Kennedy to solve a pair of murders.Homicide detective Bill Ryder reluctantly teams up with wise-cracking newshound Peter Kennedy to solve a pair of murders.

Director
- William C. McGann
Writers
- M. Coates Webster
- Frederick Nebel
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

232

YOUR RATING

Director
- William C. McGann
Writers
- M. Coates Webster
- Frederick Nebel
Stars

8User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

User reviews8

Featured review

3/10

When the two main characters have to explain the case at the end of the film, you probably are best off skipping this mystery!

"A Shot in the Dark" is a slickly produced B-mystery from Warner Brothers. And, just like in his film "The Case of the Black Parrot", William Lundigan plays a smartypants newspaperman who helps the cops solve the mystery. But, unlike "Black Parrot", this later film suffers from a poor mystery...so poor that at the end of the film, the two main characters discuss the case and explain to the audience what actually happened! In other words, the film is poorly written and could have been a lot better. Imagine...watching a mystery that really makes no sense and then relying on the characters explaining what you saw! As a result, while I like a nice B-movie, here I cannot recommend it because of the Swiss cheese-like holes in the story.

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Storyline

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Trivia
The opening building shot (model) is the frequently-used one that goes as far back as Female (1933) with Ruth Chatterton, though it likely predates even that film.

Goofs
When Lieutenant Ryder goes to Phil Richards' apartment and Phil introduces him to his fiancée, she is holding a cigarette and pointing it up with the palm out. But on the next cut, she now has the cigarette pointing toward the Lieutenant. Then on the following cuts after that, she goes back and forth between the two holding positions.

Crazy credits
In the opening credits, the leads are optically billed not by their names or even their characters' names, but by their characters' professions (e.g., "Newspaperman," "Night Club Owner"), though the actors are listed in the prior title cards.

Connections
Featured in The Doldrum: A Shot in the Dark (1954)

Soundtracks
I'm Just Wild About Harry
(1921)
Written by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake
Sung by Nan Wynn with revised lyrics (lyricist unknown) at the nightclub