The Fat Man

So this is the film version of the radio series by Dashiell Hammett called The Fat Man - obviously a whimsical referencing of his more famous novel, film and TV series The Thin Man. But this is more than just a gimmick. The corpulent gentleman in question is the masterly J. Scott Smart, whose excess poundage adds much to his screen presence as an unusually charismatic private investigator (with gourmet tastes and a mighty appetite), to whom the rest of the cast really don't measure up. Except for the quite unknown Rock Hudson, in his first major role as Roy, an ex-convict whose teeth play a significant part in the story (and not just because of his famous sunny smile). He speaks his lines convincingly, and we can already see what the production teams meant when they said "the camera loved him". Photogenic wasn't the word.

Otherwise the film is showing both its age and its B-film budget. The dialogue is generally weak, and the continuity not too sharp. We can't always keep up with who's who in the zoo. The dental assistant gives her scream of alarm long before she could possibly have worked out that her boss has been defenestrated. And the over-long sequence of the payroll robbery leaves us unsure whether this was before or after Roy's jail sentence. (You can overdo flashbacks). Also the puritan lobby will wince at Smart's habit of calling every woman 'sweetheart', as well as one brief glimpse of blackface theatre-comedy. Still the ending, which we can't reveal, reminds us of the myriad sub-plots that can emerge when a circus comes to town.

Of course, this film has nothing to do with the Thin Man series over at MGM, but it does give us a detective with a similar moniker - "The Fat Man" AKA Brad Runyan who is doing plenty of gourmet cooking and eating when he isn't solving mysteries.

Things start with a bang as a man enters the hotel room of a dentist attending a convention, knocks him unconscious, throws his body out of his high rise room to make it look like an accident, and steals a dental plate the dentist was planning to show at the convention. So the dentist's assistant (Jayne Meadows) goes to Runyan and tells him she feels like she is being watched, plus the dentist had made an appointment with Runyan for reasons unknown. When someone tries to attack the assistant, Runyan decides to stick with this case, whatever it is.

He starts with the man whose x-ray plate was stolen - Roy Clark (Rock Hudson). The assistant talks about how when he first showed up he was poorly dressed, didn't even have enough money to make a complete payment on his dental work. When he reappeared at his follow-up dental appointment, he was dressed to the nines and gave the dentist a generous tip for doing the original work on credit. He drove off in a nice car as opposed to being on foot before.

And from that sketchy information, the Fat Man solves the mystery. This is far from a top drawer noir, and in fact it has a 50s TV show feel about it. The Fat Man was a popular radio show, and maybe this feature film was a way to transfer it from radio to television, but it never really took off.

J. Scott Smart is good and convincing in his role as "The Fat Man", and he should be since he played that part on radio. He even shows himself light on his feet on the dance floor! Rock Hudson, even in this early and rather small role really stands out as far as screen presence.

The film does have a rather interesting and unexpected ending, and is worthwhile if you are interested in the noir cycle of American film in the 40s and 50s. With an original story penned by Dashiell Hammett and direction by that master of the macabre, William Castle. Also with Clinton Sundberg as Runyan's right hand man, mainly on the culinary front.

A dentist preparing to give a big speech at a conference makes the mistake of opening his door late one evening. Next thing he has been coshed and papped out of a fifteenth story window. Why? Well the rather easily pleased police conclude he succumbed to a fit of nerves, took some calming pills and... His long-term nursing assistant "Pat" (Julie London) doesn't buy that, though. She smells a rat and seeks out the help of the eponymous, renowned, investigator (J. Scott Smart). Can he put down his cutlery long enough to help her find out why she is being followed, what has happened both to her missing ex-con boyfriend "Roy" (Rock Hudson) and to $500,000 in stolen loot? In many ways this reminded me of a "Charlie Chan" mystery only here it's "Bill" (Clinton Sundberg) who takes the place of "No. 2 son" as the useful factotum who helps his boss to a conclusion in a circus. It takes just a bit too long to get going - a snappy start rather settles down a bit too much, but Smart does enough to keep the mystery rolling along with language that we'd never be allowed to use in a film nowadays. Sometimes I wonder how Rock Hudson ever achieved stardom. He was easy enough on the eye, but versatile he certainly wasn't! Watchable but you won't remember it.

Economy was obviously a concern for Universal and Mark Hellinger. The clip of the man falling to his death is taken right from 'The Spider Woman' (1944) one of Universal's classic Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies.

The second economy was the dress design for Julie London's character (starts at about 26:15). Film noir lovers will instantly recognize it as Kitty's famous evening gown (worn to perfection by Ava Gardner) in Universal's 1947 classic 'The Killers'.

Economies notwithstanding, the solid story and reliable performances (Jerome Cowan (long time Warner Bros. Contract player), Jayne Meadows, and a young Rock Hudson) make this oldie a goodie.

The odd subtexts for this film are probably what has buried it. 1. It is based on a popular radio show that sold itself as "created by Dashiell Hammett." Actually the nickname "Fate Man" was that of Gutman, one of the baddies in the Maltese Falco; the character of the radio "Fat Man" was developed out of the otherwise nameless Hammett character "The Continental Op," hero of the Dain Curse and Red Harvest. But in 1951, when this film was about to be released, Hammett was getting sent to prison for thumbing his nose at the McCarthy-era 'House UnAmerican Activities Committee' witchhunters, so his name doesn't appear in the credits (at least not the copy I've seen). 2. With reference to Hammett removed, the character is redefined; while the character remains a tough private eye, he now has acquired a gourmand's taste for good cooking - an obvious reference to the popular Nero Wolfe Character - as well as a shadow of Wolfe's sidekick, Archie Goodwin. 3. This is an early film with Rock Hudson, and it is clear where he was intending to go with his career - a Montgomery Clift without the angst - but just as clearly he decided to change directions - too bad, he's actually quite good in this. 4. This is William Castle before he decided to throw himself wholeheartedly into gimmicky horror movies, and it reminds us that he could be a very capable director when he wanted to be. 5. That the a lead baddie is played by legendary clown Emmett Kelly probably doesn't mean much today, but it's certainly worth a footnote for those interested in the history of clowns.

The story, dialog and acting are all solid; the camera-work, lighting and design are nothing special but certainly competent. The pacing is pretty good. The film keeps its suspense up and provides enough twists to be a real detective mystery. Overall a satisfying mystery from the era when such could still be made.