A Night for Crime (1943)

Best movie of this year hands down!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

PRC annoying lady--voice from hell--neighborIn most B-mysteries, there are a lot of clichés you come to expect if you watch a lot of these films. One of the most familiar is the stupid cop investigating the case. In reality NO COP is as dumb as these guys and they specialize in coming up with elaborate theories and trying to make the evidence fit their crazy preconceptions. In the case of "A Night for Crime" the cop (Hoffman) isn't just dumb...he's practically brainless! This is a deficit in the film as you can't help but wonder WHICH police force would ever hire such a guy or give him such authority! Fortunately, the other cliché the films has are the amateurs who somehow know MORE than all the cops...and in this case Susan (Glenda Farrell) and Joe (Lyle Talbot) can't help but be smarter than the police!The case begins with a scream...and Joe and Susan find a body in the nearby apartment. Almost instantly, the dopey detective shows up and Hoffman proves he's one of the dumbest policemen in the history of films. Plus, in addition to the body, there's a missing woman to be found. So, the reporter and publicity man decide to figure out the case when the police are so easily baffled. So is the film any good? Not really. As I already mentioned, it has a lot of clichés. The only thing that saves it, a bit, is Glenda Farrell--an actress who usually plays snappy-talking broads. She is enjoyable.

While Glenda Farrell and Lyle Talbot don't come close to becoming a second rate Nick and Nora Charles, they are somewhat amusing as they get involved in a disappearance and a murder investigation in this low budget mystery. You can't expect a Glenda Farrell film without wisecracks (see any of her 30's Warner Brothers films with Joan Blondell for proof of this), and she has many here as a variation of her former Torchy Blane character. Fellow Warners alumnus Talbot is the publicity man who helps her solve the mystery of what happened to movie star Lina Basquette. The film slows down to a snail's pace every time Farrell is off screen, but for a low budget film, the set is pretty snazzy looking. Fellow former "A" lister Jean Parker would move into the ranks as a variation of Farrell's character in two "Kitty O'Day" features which had similar formulas.

Joe Powell, movie studio publicity man, visits Susan Cooper, Hollywood reporter, at her apartment. He proposes, she laughingly refuses, Joe takes a phone call from the boss…and suddenly there's a scream from across the hall! A young actress is found murdered in her room. Who did it? And where is Mona Harrison, the studio's biggest star? Mr. Hart, studio producer, is going to be out $300,000 if Mona doesn't show up to finish her work on their latest picture….It's a Hollywood mystery that makes no sense and contains no great suspense yet somehow manages to be quite entertaining. Lyle Talbot and Glenda Farrell are enthusiastic as Joe and Susan; Farrell is fine as the spunky and quick-thinking reporter, while Talbot makes a game effort at portraying a smooth talker with a winning wit—a task made difficult by a script that is sorely lacking in originality and cleverness.Since it's a pretty silly movie, Ralph Sanford probably comes across best as the very silly police detective Hoffman. Big and dumb, Hoffman is supposed to say idiotic things—and indeed he does, often amusingly. Ralph Sanford does look like he's having fun.A typical exchange occurs when Farrell pretends to confess to the murder and meets Hoffman's objections: "But I had a motive, Hoffman, I had a wonderful motive." "Yeah? What?" "Well, you see, Ellen bought a dress exactly like one of mine. Now you know what that does to a woman…" --Is that funny? Not exactly. But delivered by actors who look like they're convinced that it is funny…it is actually kind of humorous. And that's pretty much true of the film as a whole.The Hollywood setting is interesting….On Talbot's studio office wall is a movie poster for another PRC production, The Panther's Claw. Presumably the film's "Motion Picture Associates" is a studio not unlike the genuine Producers Releasing Corporation. So does the film's creative but ethically challenged studio boss, Mr. Hart, bear any resemblance to real life studio execs? I could not say.Overall, it's an enjoyable enough picture for viewers willing to let its good-natured and unassuming air overshadow its many weaknesses.

This is an above average PRC mystery. Lyle Talbot is cast as a movie studio publicity man. Glenda Farrell is his brash, wise-cracking girlfriend. When a studio movie star goes missing Talbot is sent out to find her. What he finds instead is a murder case. There is nothing new here and it is the type of story that was popular a decade previous. Ralph Sanford plays the too stupid to be real detective in charge of the murder case. This film is not terrific, but it never gets boring as it often the problem with PRC films. It's really a tribute to old pros Talbot and Farrell, who manage to keep this baby entertaining despite a low budget and a so-so screenplay.