Sky Murder

Master detective Nick Carter as played by Walter Pidgeon tangles with fifth columnists in Sky Murder. During the course of the film a murder does take place in a millionaire's private plane and at the climax another is attempted, but foiled.

United States Senator George Lessey tips the famous private eye to this nest of traitors, but the leaders are an illusive group. His Senate investigating committee is looking into this and he'd like Carter to work for them.

Of course Walter Pidgeon does things in his own way with sidekick Donald Meek with his ever present bees. They key seems to be refugee girl Kaaren Verne who is being pressured and not quite leveling with Pidgeon or anyone else about her situation.

Once again Donald Meek whom I usually love as a character actor is downright annoying in this as he was in the other Nick Carter films as the bee man. Sometimes he's more of a danger to Pidgeon than the bad guys.

Take note of Dorothy Tree in this film, she plays a hardcore Bundist type and well. Tree who later had blacklist troubles saw the other side of the struggle as the underground leader in the famous camp classic, Hitler - Dead Or Alive.

There's a little more MGM type gloss to these Carter films which is also a bit out of place. But MGM didn't know how to do it any other way in the days of Louis B. Mayer.

"Sky Murder" turned out to be Nick Carter's final case, which is a shame. The series had a lot going for it, including handsome, commanding Walter Pidgeon as Carter in one of his best roles. "Sky Murder" is a fast-moving mystery involving subversives - Nazis no doubt. Ten years later and it would have been Communists. After a murder in a locked airplane compartment, a German refugee (Kaaren Verne) becomes a suspect, and Nick is sure she didn't do it. It's never easy for Nick to work on a case because of people who won't leave him alone, and this time is no different. Donald Meek as Bartholemew is still around with his bees, and he has a hilarious fight scene. There's also a pseudo-detective, Christine Cross (Joyce Compton) who is a complete airhead.

This series had a nice, chaotic and humorous feel to it, with the anchor ably provided by Pidgeon who puts up with Bartholemew and here, Compton, but never seems to get flustered. Really fun. It's a shame there were so few of the Nick Carter films.

This is yet another experiment in the all important detective genre — before the genre settled into the few riverbeds we work with today. The experiment failed, which is why you don't find this celebrated. Its actually a very bad entertainment. Very bad indeed and after this Nick Carter would end.

Its only interesting if you study how the notion of film detection and noir evolved, and what branches died out... or if you are interested in how national identity is defined in film (or reflected if you are a gnostic).

This one tries to punch up the franchise with pretty girls, six of them who are apparently prostitutes though the relationship is so softpeddled, they are mentioned as "dancers." They are protected by a dumb blond who is so dumb it defies even movie logic.

One of these is a German girl who is reluctantly recruited into a German conspiracy against the US, a "fifth column." When she is condemned in front of members of the "cell," one decent man gets up to protest that he joined to make the world better. He is immediately beset by thugs and beaten to death. There is mention of concentration camps. The US hadn't yet entered the war, but it was ready.

There's a mystery of sorts here, how someone is stabbed in a sealed cabin on an airplane. But it is so contrived, so needlessly elaborate its funny, like the genteel whores that subliminally stand for American values.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Walter Pidgeon returns for a third appearance as suave-yet-rugged detective Nick Carter in this fast-paced spy picture.

Set very much on the eve of America's entrance into WWII, the plot involves American traitors distributing flyers about a new regime and Nick Carter's (initially reluctant) efforts to track down and put them out of business. Spies, patriotism, murder – it's a neat little movie featuring a solid cast and efficient script.

Donald Meek offers able assistance and mild comic relief as Bartholomew the Bee Man. Put in charge of escorting a group of ladies off of a plane, he gets a little overzealous: "The first one that makes a break dies like a dog!" he barks. (Of course, they trample him and give him a bump on the head.)

Other capable cast members include Tom Conway as a shady character; Kaaren Verne as an earnest immigrant pressured to betray her new country; and Joyce Compton as would-be detective Chris Cross.

Walter Pidgeon looks like he's enjoying himself as the dashing lead character who spouts like dialog like, "Well, this is swell. Seven beautiful girls and every one of them a murder suspect."

There's not much substance, really, but it's a pleasant mix of adventure, mystery and comedy.

Unaccountably, MGM's excellent Nick Carter movies became the shortest series of detective films on record. The Carter films took the middle ground somewhere between the serial-like Brass Bancroft pictures and the sophisticated semi-comedy mysteries like the Thin Man films. The Carter series were fast-paced with quite a bit of action, but with some hilarious humor too. Bartholomew the Bee Man was the most unique of all detective sidekicks--quite loony, but very helpful at the same time. The interaction between Donald Meek's Bartholomew and Walter Pidgeon's self-assured Nick Carter was the best part of the series, which had several other things going for it too.

This final Carter film is a lot of fun, with Nick (unwillingly, at first) taking on a ring of Fifth Columnists (since this was filmed before the US entered the war, we're not told the villains are Nazis, but it's pretty clear anyway). Of course, the helpful and persistent Bartholomew is at his side--much to Nick's irritation. To further complicate things--and to make them still funnier--Joyce Compton is along for the ride too, as a delightfully brainless "detective" named Christine Cross. The plot gives us a new twist on the locked-room murder mystery: this time, a murder takes place in a locked airplane compartment! Karen Verne plays a German refugee suspected of the mysterious murder, and it's up to Nick to clear her--and protect her from the real killers, who are out to remove her at all costs. As in the first Carter film (NICK CARTER, MASTER DETECTIVE) there's a mastermind whose identity is not revealed right away, and an assortment of sinister henchmen. While trying to figure out the mystery (the who-dun-it isn't hard, but the "how dun it" certainly is) look for some great supporting players, including Chill Wills, Grady Sutton, Edward Ashley, and Tom Conway, soon to become a well-known film detective himself--the Falcon.

Be sure to check out this movie and the other Carter movies, NICK CARTER MASTER DETECTIVE and PHANTOM RAIDERS. All three are shown on TCM from time to time, and I highly recommend them.