Irish Luck

I'm not sure if being lucky and being Irish go hand in hand, but that proposition is certainly tested in this Monogram Picture with hotel employees Frankie Darro bellhop and Mantan Moreland janitor solve a couple of murders and break up a bond theft ring.

This hotel that employs Darro and Moreland is being used as the drop and pickup spot for stolen bonds. Being set up as those taking the fall are brother and sister Dennis Moore and Sheila Darcy. As their name is Monahan they can't possibly be guilty according to Darro as Buzzy O'Brien and his sainted Irish mother Lillian Elliott.

Darro is the son of a police detective and can't wait to get on the force, so much so he's finding mysteries to solve where he works. It's all to the distraction of his father's friend on the force Dick Purcell who has a relationship to Darro similar to Chief Clifford and Sam McCloud.

Irish Luck hasn't worn well over the years and Mantan Moreland's eye rolling janitor is especially not wearing well. He seems to be warming up for playing Birmingham Brown on the Charlie Chan series.

I doubt we'll see this one restored any time soon.

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.

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.

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.