Sky Murder (1940)

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The third, and in my opinion, the best of M-G-M's three "Nick Carter" movies, all starring Walter Pidgeon, this one also features Donald Meek (again as the nervy but totally eccentric Bee Man) who is actually billed second to Pidgeon and even receives a splash credit in the trailer! Kaaren Verne does a good job as the alluring but suspicious heroine, Tom Conway is perfectly cast as the two-faced, lecherous villain, Joyce Compton plays dizzy twins (alas, not both in view at the same time!), and Chill Wills makes a delightfully rustic sheriff. Although this picture runs 72 minutes (compared to 59 for the first entry and 70 for Phantom Raiders), it is so admirably fast-paced by director George B. Seitz (taking a well-earned break from the Andy Hardy series) that it seemed to this viewer to be the shortest movie of the three. Both action and comic interludes are put across with style, and it's well produced too with all the usual M-G-M frills. The plot may seem somewhat dated, but that's part of the joy of discovery. Louis B. Mayer had no love for the Nazis (vide The Mortal Storm) and was keeping up the pressure!

When I heard "Nick Carter," I was expecting a dark, noir-ish hard boiled detective story, along the lines of Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. "Sky Murder" is anything but.I thought the first few scenes of the movie were so bad, I was going to give it a 3 and turn it off. (No movie can score higher than a 3 with me if I can't stand it till the end.) For some reason, though, and it wasn't any sudden change in plot or acting, I kept with it. It was more than three quarters of the way through, more than 45 minutes into the film, that I suddenly realized this is a rollicking adventure story aimed at eight-year-old boys, with no pretensions of being anything but a good time. It is a comic book come to life, sort of like the old Superman TV show from the fifties.Once I realized that, the movie became much more enjoyable.I don't know if an eight-year-old would enjoy it today, though. It's not full of fast action, has no gunfire, and of course it has no CG.So, without modern kid appeal, and, as other reviewers have shown, it doesn't hold much for adult viewers, I'm afraid this well-done and entertaining film is probably destined for obscurity.

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.

Walter Pidgeon played Nick Carter, detective, in only three films from 1939 - 1940. Sky Murder was the last of the series and it is a real bomb. Walter himself is not too bad, but the rest of the cast does very little to deliver a film that is worth watching today. There are lots of detective sidekicks, but Walter Meek's portrayal of "Beeswax" Batholomew is simply annoying. Fortunately Tom Conway is not on screen long enough to warrant serious criticism. The plot involves fifth columnists, damsels in distress, and the interference of a female private detective that should have been left on the cutting room floor. A critical car chase suffers from continuity problems. Most of the gags fall flat. A murder does take place in the sky and by the time we see the solution, it is hard to care. Not worth your time.