IMDb > Michael Shayne: Private Detective (1940)

Michael Shayne: Private Detective (1940) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   121 votes
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Director:
Eugene Forde
Writers:
Brett Halliday (novel)
Stanley Rauh (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Michael Shayne: Private Detective on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 January 1941 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Mystery | Drama more
Plot:
After gumshoe Mike Shayne is hired by a millionaire to keep his daughter away from gambling and gamblers, he becomes involved in the murder of a racetrack tout. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Goulash more (6 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Lloyd Nolan ... Michael Shayne
Marjorie Weaver ... Phyllis Brighton
Joan Valerie ... Marsha Gordon
Walter Abel ... Elliott Thomas
Elizabeth Patterson ... Aunt Olivia
Donald MacBride ... Chief Painter
Douglass Dumbrille ... Benny Gordon (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Clarence Kolb ... Hiram P. Brighton
George Meeker ... Harry Grange
Charles Coleman ... Ponsby, Brightons' Butler
Adrian Morris ... Al (as Michael Morris)
Robert Emmett Keane ... Larry Kincaid
Frank Orth ... Steve
Irving Bacon ... Fisherman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Pierce ... Burly Man (scenes deleted)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
77 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #6714) | Sweden:15

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
First in a series. more
Quotes:
Michael Shayne: Hey, Steve, that brooch is as phony as a mother-in-law's kiss. more
Movie Connections:
Followed by "Michael Shayne" (1960) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
5 out of 19 people found the following comment useful.
Goulash, 3 May 2006
4/10
Author: jldmp1 (jldmp1@aol.com) from United States

This comes across as a stew of screwball comedy and whodunnit literary conventions. Within the story, we have Patterson, an avid mystery novel reader, occupying the position of the target movie-watcher.

Rather stagy and uncinematic, with bad acoustics, and the usual-for-the-period (bad) sped up camera tricks.

Nolan is the only one with an actual clue here...his stance is that of an actor playing a character playing several personas (each distinguished by putting on different voices)in order to flummox the cast of dimwits. This is a rough template for the far better "Fletch" movies.

The tracing by pencil of the paper imprints is spoofed in "Big Lebowski".

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Message Boards

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This film is based on the novel 'The Private Practice of Michael Shayne' Adam_P_L
Who is the actor? Art-22
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