Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

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.

A rather good looking B-Movie that has that MGM sheen. One of the earliest Pulp Detectives, Nick Carter on screen turned out to be a rather ho-hum, if pleasant presence, although the surroundings in this film, especially the visuals, are quite impressive.It is an interesting pre-war (but gearing up for war) entry that is heavy on parading the growing aircraft industry and "new" weapon mythological propaganda. Although Hitler was on the move at this time, America's entry in the WWII was still two years away. But, you would never know it from this movie. The villains have German accents and names like Otto.There is some creative editing and some fine aerial work. Also, a bizarre scene of Carter using a tommy-gun while zipping around in an open cockpit that looks straight out of a Pulp Magazine cover. Overall it is a thrilling one hour ride that is either aided or distracted (depending on your taste) by some silly Bee-Movie comedy relief.

Very Entertaining-----Walter Pigeon was charming as the lead and Rita Johnson was excellent as his leading lady. The plot is a bit sophomoric, but the leads make this an A film. Although some of the humor is lost with the beeman, the movie is rather fast paced, albeit short-length with a rather abrupt ending. The special effects are rather good for that time, and the line, " If I am wrong, I will apologize" serves as a great tagline for Pigeon's Carter. Ultimately you watch a film like this for the chemistry of its two main stars, and this film delivers. Walter Pigeon and Rita Johnson are no William Powell and Myrna Loy, but they are perfectly matched for each other and cover some of the plot holes amicably. This is a great movie to see on AMC or TNT one late night.

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.