Le Témoin disparu

Just Off Broadway an entry in the Michael Shayne film series has Lloyd Nolan sitting on a jury in a murder case where the beautiful Janis Carter is on trial for killing her fiance. How given his line of work he got on a jury is beyond me, but there he is.

Things really get interesting when a witness tesitfying is killed with a thrown knife from the rear of the courtroom. Why the cops also can't come to the conclusion that only an expert could have made such a throw is also beyond me.

Not particularly happy with how the defense is going Nolan when sequestered for the evening sneaks out and with Lois Lane like reporter Marjorie Weaver and in a few hours he gathers what evidence he needs to unmask the real killer.

In terms of the criminal justice system this is all patent nonsense. But Nolan and the rest of the cast keep the nonsense moving along quite nicely with some snappy dialog. You won't believe who the real killer is.

Phil Silvers abrasive comic style is put to good use as a nosy news photographer Nolan and Weaver have to keep dodging.

In the end no good deed goes unpunished for Michael Shayne. Watch and see what I mean.

A woman (Janis Carter) is on trial for murder. A witness is killed by a knife flung at him in court; detective Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) is on the jury and jumps into the fray. Crawling on the floor, he grabs the knife from under a table and drives it under the top.

Shayne knows the defendant is innocent and is determined to prove it. After drugging his fellow juror roommate, he takes off down the fire escape and goes back to court to retrieve the knife. A reporter (Marjorie Weaver) beats him to it and wants in on the story.

The Michael Shayne films from 20th Century Fox were a series of Bs starring Lloyd Nolan. They're short, light, quick-moving, and fun, with a good performances by Nolan and Weaver in the usual relationship between detective and competitive female reporter we see so often.

This is a very 40s film, with talk of ration cards and killing the Japanese.

...with Lloyd Nolan as the Michael Shayne character. In this entry, Nolan is serving on a jury in a murder trial. A witness is knifed while testifying, so Nolan immediately jumps out of the jury box and hides the knife under a table. I'm no legal expert, but I think this qualifies as either suppressing evidence or obstruction of justice.

It gets worse. Nolan figures out who killed the witness ... some professional knife-thrower guy named "Shiverino," or something similar. Nolan tracks down the guy to a warehouse, and breaks in (I think that is also illegal). Then the guy turns up dead. In trying to escape, Nolan slugs a security guard (sounds like assault and battery to me). In the courtroom finale, Nolan, still acting as a juror, is allowed to call and question witnesses. Then he sums up the case, Charlie Chan-style, but you need a scorecard to figure out who did what to whom and where. Justice is served, somewhat, as Nolan gets a short jail term for contempt of court. The screenwriters should have gotten the electric chair.

This film is not even amusing. Nolan comes off as irritating, which is too bad, since I like him. Marjorie Weaver, who plays a reporter, aids and abets Nolan. Phil Silvers is barely funny as a newspaper photographer. Janis Carter, a lovely B-movie gal, is completely wasted as the defendant. She has little screen time, and only has a few lines near the end of the film. The fight and chase scenes are shown at high speed, in an early attempt at Cinema de Benny Hill.

Joan Valerie sings (or lip-syncs) "It Happened, It's Over, Let's Forget It." Sound advice.

Michael Shayne is serving on a jury when a key witness is murdered in front of everybody by a mysterious knife thrower. Despite the jurors being sequestered in a hotel, Shayne manages to sneak out to investigate. A decent B detective movie with a nice mystery and healthy dose of comedy. Lloyd Nolan is perfect in the role of Shayne and always a treat to watch. A trio of lovely starlets in this one: Janis Carter, Marjorie Weaver, and Joan Valerie. All three are pretty but Weaver has the best part as the reporter helping Shayne investigate. Good chemistry between her and Nolan. The rest of the cast includes Phil Silvers, Don Costello, and Richard Derr. Not one of the best of the series but a fine time-passer.

Fast and furious "B" courtesy of Lloyd Nolan's unstoppable for very long Mike Shayne, private, I guess, detective. Murder abounds most foul, but you can be readily assured in this instance the butler didn't do it. Courtroom highjinks are just the beginning of the fun as Mike bothered by brunette reporter with occasional appearances by photographer buddy played by Phil Silvers in early "Sargent Bilco" mode, investigates in the wings of the local Ed Sullivan theater searching for a knife throwing contingency. After 2 or 3 conks on the head, sped up fist fights, being saved by bruised brunette more times than was needed, Mike is finally free to hunt down the master maniac. Imagine the surprise when we find out courtrooms are often like outhouses, full of stuff we'd rather not see, let alone smell.

The adventures of Mike Shayne weren't huge moneymakers for 20th Century Fox, in the detecting arena that role was filled by the ever scrutable Charlie Chan. Suffice it to say, this caper "Just Off Broadway" wasn't the best sparkler in the series, but an OK time waster in the 60 minute market. The method of death here can not be expected to be any "knife in the water".