Nick Carter, Master Detective

Walter Pidgeon is breezy, clever and tough as master detective Nick Carter in this spies-in-the-airplane-factory adventure that contains plenty of laughs and a couple of good action scenes.

An exciting opening sequence features a pilot setting down his plane in the middle of the desert, snatching up some valuable plans, and dashing off on foot to meet his waiting cohorts. Passenger Nick Carter—on the plane incognito—races after him, rescues the plans and jumps back on the ship as the flight nurse starts up the plane and flies it away to safety. It's all pretty far-fetched but it's well staged and the actors give it plenty of zip.

Rita Johnson is fine as flight attendant, nurse, sometime pilot and possible spy named Lou. Unfortunately, her character isn't given quite enough to do after the daring plane ride, but she and Pidgeon are good together, their characters initially suspicious but eventually rather fond of each other.

Donald Meek is bizarre but irrepressible as an amateur detective who calls himself "Bartholomew the B Man." He keeps bees in his hat and follows Carter around offering theories and advice. The two exchange standard but likable enough B movie dialog: "What made you say murder?" "Because it looks like suicide."

A decent plot moves along briskly—bad guys are smuggling out top secret airplane plans—but it's really the stars who hold our interest. Walter Pidgeon is actually a lot of fun: "If I'm wrong, I'll apologize," he smirks whenever proposing a new theory.

Based on the popular Nick Carter pulp stories, this detective B movie should have been a real winner with Walter Pidgeon as Carter and a host of excellent character actors. But instead it's only average. The movie takes place a couple of years before America entered WWII and involves a plot to steal blueprints for a new aircraft design by foreign spies from an unnamed country (duh, maybe Germany?). There is an attempt to bring humor to the film with the role of Mr. Bartholomew, the master beekeeper played by Donald Meek. While the character is occasionally amusing, he is just as often irritating. What was nice was the Rita Johnson role of the stewardess/nurse who actually helps Carter in his investigation. While this is good enough that it makes one want to see the other two entries in the Nick Carter series, it is not in the top tier of B detective movie series entries.

MGM in buying the rights to the Nick Carter stories and then making three films with the character just shows the twist of fate in some people's careers.

Walter Pidgeon was one of their second magnitude stars at that time. B picture leads and occasionally in an A film where he always lost the girl.

Louis B. Mayer must have thought a whole slew of these would have been made for Pidgeon and he would have become identified as Nick Carter on screen. But he managed to get some decent films, two back to back Best Pictures, How Green Was My Valley and Mrs. Miniver and a lifetime partnership with Greer Garson. He escaped movie oblivion then.

It's a competently executed film, but I have to agree with previous reviewers. Donald Meek as the bee man looked like he just took his zany character from You Can't Take It With You and it just didn't fit in this fast paced detective story. The film itself is barely an hour. Meek distracts from the plot. Too bad because Donald Meek is usually a fine performer.

I much prefer Walter Pidgeon as the Reverend Mr. Gruffydd or Clem Miniver or even Dr. Morbius. Good thing he escaped Nick Carter.

This B movie was directed by Jacques Tourneur, who went on to direct one of my favorite films, Cat People. It also has handsome Walter Pidgeon in an early starring role. This is a 1939 film about sabotage at an aircraft plant that Carter is called in to investigate. There are many airplane sequences, lots of fog, and everyone looks suspicious. Donald Meek is on hand as loony Bartholemew, the bee man, providing the comedy.

It's fun to see people who, 15-20 years later, would be TV names: Frank Faylen of "Dobie Gillis," Milburn Stone of "Gunsmoke," Sterling Holloway, he of the unusual voice, of just about every TV show, who was also the voice of Winnie the Pooh. Henry Hull, who plays the old man in this and sported white hair, was 49 when this film was made. I took the trouble to look it up because in the 60s he was at least 150 years old. No, just in his 70s, one of those people who played old man all his life, I guess.

This is a fun movie, with its old-fashioned and poorly done process shots, a very handsome Pidgeon, and some character actors from my youth.

Walter Pidgeon is cast as detective Nick Carter, whose mission is to find out who is behind plans to steal blueprints for the enemy in this pre-WWII yarn. Rita Johnson is teamed nicely as leading lady. Her presence is so welcome that it's a wonder she never had a bigger career on screen.

With a supporting cast that includes Frank Faylen, Henry Hull, Donald Meek and Stanley Ridges, it's a neat programmer that crams a lot of plot into a one hour time slot. The only sore spot is Donald Meek in his bumbling role as a bee-keeper who aids Carter. Usually a very reliable character actor, this time his role is so unlikeable, unlikely and annoying that it's more of a distraction than a help. Whatever humor is supposed to be gathered by his involvement in the plot, never quite makes its mark.

But in its brief running time, this one passes the time pleasantly enough with the handsome Pidgeon marking his time at MGM before he became a big star.