Irish Luck

Frankie Darro is a bellhop at a hotel where he hones his detective skills. After recovering some stolen bonds,much to the chagrin of the police, he finds himself mixed up in a murder, that may have been committed by a nervous young lady he has befriended. One of the first pairings of Mantan Moreland and Frankie Darro is one of the best. Here we have a real mystery story that keeps you interested from the very start. Its nice to have a programmer that seems to be more than just one set refurnished over and over again. There are some really clever bits, how Mantan flags down the police is priceless and some witty remarks, coming mostly from Mantan or cop Dick Purcell are amusing. If there is any real disappointment in this film its that Moreland and Darro aren't as chummy as they were in later entries. Indeed, where the pair spends most of their on screen time together here there are whole sections where Frankie is front and center with Moreland no where to be found or reduced to simply acting frightened or explaining things to the police, he's good but he's not what he would become in the later films. recommended to anyone looking for a a good mystery.

Produced by actor Grant Withers, this is the initial entry of a Frankie Darro starring series for Monogram Pictures during which this foremost exponent of the Boyish Enthusiasm genre plays as a hotel bellhop and "Amateur Detective" (the movie's title in England), and it is also the first of six works for which Darro is cast along with comic actor Mantan Moreland as his foil who wishes to exercise no part of crime solving, a chronic habit and avocation of Darro's characters, "Buzzy O'Brien" in this archetypal instance. The short (51 min.) film begins in brisk fashion and continues on a smooth roll throughout with Buzzy, son of a former police detective, becoming entangled in shady goings-on at his place of employment, the Regal Hotel, including multiple murders and a theft of negotiable bonds, with the young bellboy being in the midst of it all, as the temptation to be a nonprofessional gumshoe ensures that his job, his good standing with old family friend Detective Lanahan (Dick Purcell), and his very life will be in hazard. Very popular upon its release, the film still generates approval from viewers due to excellent casting and delivery of rapid-fire and crisp dialogue by the players, with ill-starred Monogram mainstay Purcell earning the acting laurels for his effortless performance as a no-nonsense detective in charge of the many investigations at the hotel; the direction, editing and scoring are not equalled by the studio's 1944 recrafting of the story as THE ADVENTURES OF KITTY O'DAY, featuring Jean Parker.

Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland made a great team and both were great actors. They were very well directed here by Howard Bretherton in a good story, although there were times the dialogue was a bit over the top and rather too breathlessly delivered.

Still this is fun, and one to watch again.

I saw an excellent version at bnwmovies.com and I highly recommend that site.

Frankie Darro is a bellhop at a hotel. His bet friends are hotel porter Mantan Moreland, and police detective Dick Purcell. Purcell was a trainee of Darro's late father. Darro considers himself an amateur detective. When a hotel guest is found murdered, and another guest, pretty Sheila Darcy looks implicated, Darro tries to find out who did the murder, despite the risks to Moreland.

Darro is actually pretty good in this one, and has considerable chemistry with Moreland. Under the direction of Howard Bretherton, this one moves at a pretty good pace -- although I have never seen a hotel in reality with corridors that wide. This was a considerable success for Monogram. So much so they made seven more features with Darro and Moreland.

Hotel bellhop Buzzy O'Brien plays detective with the various guests of the hotel, much to the unhappiness of police detective Lanahan and hotel detective Fluger. Buzzy's latest case involves Thaddeus Porter, a banker, who was found murdered in his hotel room. Suspicion falls on Kitty Monahan, whose brother is escaping the law for stealing $10,000 in bonds. Buzzy and Jefferson (hotel janitor) deduce that someone in the hotel must be a go between for the hot bond racket, and have to catch the criminal before they themselves become the next victim. If there was a B-movie that can be stereotyped as generic programmer, this would be it. The killer is very easy to figure out, even by the audience members who are half paying attention. The cast and the characterizations are really bland, primarily since we've seen these types of people in hundreds of movies before. The scene at Buzzy's house with his mother helping Kitty only because she's Irish, just seems so corny that its hilarious. Rating, 3.