Michael Shayne: Private Detective

A very enjoyable film, with Lloyd Nolan as Michael Shayne. The supporting cast is also a joy to watch, with Elizabeth Patterson stealing it away in every scene she is in!! She is a hoot to watch. About the only cast member not really giving a good performance is Joan Valerie. She is too sullen, but then maybe that is the way the character is supposed to be played, but she sort of dulls this film down a bit. It is always a treat to see Lloyd Nolan in a film and this one is another good one in his list!!

Mix murder with mystery and add a few drops of humor. Remove it -not shake it. The result? An excepcional, fun, entertaining movie that happens to be the first of a series of Michael Shayne mysteries. And what an entry!

Lloyd Nolan shines playing a charismatic, smart, dynamic Michael Shayne with brains and lots of resources to solve any mystery - including counting on aunt Olivia's help!. Nolan really excells in this role.

The script (by Stanley Rauh, Manning O'Connor and Brett Halliday) is very well done with constant twists and tricks and a frantic rhythm. Dialogues are brilliant and funny (see trivia section). Shayne messes everything and constantly tricks police providing false evidences and turning everything upside down with the invaluable help of aunt Olivia (great characterization by Elizabeth Patterson), a murder mystery fan.

Sets are effective and beautifully designed. All the actors play at their best and the mystery is trully effective.

All this makes this movie a highly enjoyable and very entertaining film.

Lloyd Nolan is Michael Shayne, a private eye hired to keep an eye on a young woman with a penchant for gambling. Shayne intends to save her from herself but ends up as the prime suspect of a murder. Shayne will have to act fast and untangle a web of gambling, drugged horses, a jilted lover, an overly zealous mystery fan, and a dead body if he's to stay out of the County Jail.

I had never heard much about the Michael Shayne movies before I found a set of four on DVD. Being a fan of 1940s era mystery/thrillers, I decided to give them a chance. And the ridiculously low price didn't hurt matters any. I was hoping for something along the lines of Charlie Chan or The Thin Man. While I didn't enjoy this, the first in the series, as much as the better known movies I mentioned, Michael Shayne: Private Detective is a decent enough watch and worth the 77 minutes I put into it Lloyd Nolan gives a solid, albeit unspectacular, performance. The problem - while Nolan is a good actor, he is not what I would call a leading man. Nolan is joined by a capable cast that includes Douglass Dumbrille, Elizabeth Patterson, and Donald MacBride (who seemed to make a career out of playing the beleaguered, put-upon police inspector). Much of the movie has a feeling or atmosphere about it that many of the "light" detective movies of the period had that I find appealing. This feeling was almost undone, however, by a plot that seemed a little overly complicated for a throwaway B-movie. Maybe I was just too tired when I watched, but I found it difficult to follow - not that any of it was that interesting to begin with. So in the end, while I've given Michael Shayne: Private Detective a 6/10, I can't say I'm not a bit disappointed. Here's hoping the next three in the series are even more entertaining.

"With your nerve, I'd hate to have a tooth pulled!" That's Phyllis Brighton speaking indignantly to Mike Shayne, who has just intervened to keep her from betting a bundle she can't afford on a possibly rigged horse race. It doesn't help minutes later when the nag wins. Michael Shayne, Private Detective was the first of seven Shayne movies starring Lloyd Nolan. He crammed them all in a three year contract period. These are comedy-mysteries, all B movies, made quickly on tight budgets by journeyman directors, writers and actors, then shot out for quick play on the lower half of double bills across America. Sad to say, at least with this one, take away Nolan and we don't have much except nostalgia.

Lloyd Nolan was one of those first-rate actors who had plenty of charm, energy and charisma, with confidence to spare. He always came across as smarter than he might seem, whether he played good guys or, more often, tough good guys. He seldom played bad guys. Nolan didn't have the Hollywood-handsome looks that would convince a studio head to make him into a big star. Because he had such a dynamic effect in most of his roles, I think it probably called for very confident leading heroes to agree to play with him in major movies. He was one of a small group of actors who could be so emphatic on screen because of their personality and style that they became memorable...actors like Chester Morris, Lee Tracy, Paul Kelly and, of course, James Cagney. Some made it big, some faded away. They're all great fun to watch in action. Even in old age Nolan could command a screen. He was 83 in his last movie, Hannah and Her Sisters, and is one of the best things about that fine movie. He'd had 50 years of making movies when he died of cancer shortly after finishing his part.

As Michael Shayne, Nolan gives us a character who is tough, resourceful and cocky. He's usually good natured and usually impertinent. Shayne is a private eye who is impressed with no one. He has a sense of skeptical humor. He runs rings around the cops, who are usually portrayed as dunderheads. He's attractive to the the ladies but never seems to get too romantically involved. In Michael Shayne, Private Detective, the mystery is complex but not, unfortunately, all that interesting. The script has Shayne deal with inconveniences by simply tossing away evidence, his gun, into a field, or stripping down two revolvers to exchange gun barrels, or just lying with a smirk. It's never wise to expect good acting in most B movies, and this B movie doesn't disappoint. Besides Nolan, the only actors who show skill are Donald McBride as the police chief doing his frazzled double takes, Douglas Dumbrille as a confident crook, Walter Abel as a weak crook and Elisabeth Patterson as a crime-loving aunt. These are acting jobs the four of them could do in their sleep. They're skilled professionals, however, and they make their roles interesting. Oh, yes...the mystery. It has something to do with gambling debts, fixing horse races, a love that's too intense and a sleazy gambler.

This is a very entertaining series and affords Lloyd Nolan a charismatic part as Mike Shayne, street-wise Private Eye. "Michael Shayne, Private Detective" is better than "The Man Who Wouldn't Die" but not as good as "Just Off Broadway", and it is also the first entry in the series. The usual strong support cast is on hand, and Fox surrounded him with some of the best character actors available. Among them are Douglas Dumbrille, Elizabeth Patterson, Donald McBride and Walter Abel.

As far as the story goes, I think 'planktonrules' hit the nail on the head - the film was cruising along and then dropped the ball with a hastily contrived ending which no one could see coming. But, as I say, you root for the chipper and cheerful Nolan, who carries nearly every scene he's in. The picture also employs one of my pet peeves, that of mixing mystery and comedy, which was often done prior to WW II and which I don't feel go well together.

Recapping; excellent series, passable entry.