Quiet Please: Murder (1942)

Book thief/forger sells a fake book to a Nazi through a female agent. A detective tries to uncover who the forger is and gets in the middle of a three way struggle for rare books and revenge in a public library.

Director:

John Larkin

Writers:

John Larkin (screenplay), Lawrence G. Blochman (story)

Stars:

George Sanders, Gail Patrick, Richard Denning

Cast

Complete credited cast:
George Sanders	...	Jim Fleg
Gail Patrick	...	Myra Blandy
Richard Denning	...	Hal McByrne
Lynne Roberts	...	Kay Ryan
Sidney Blackmer	...	Martin Cleaver
Kurt Katch	...	Eric Pahsen
Margaret Brayton	...	Miss Oval
Charles Tannen	...	Hollis

Storyline

Book thief/forger sells a fake book to a Nazi through a female agent. A detective tries to uncover who the forger is and gets in the middle of a three way struggle for rare books and revenge in a public library.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | forger | library | evil man | murder | 

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Taglines:

YOU'VE GOT A DATE WITH DANGER!... A Rendezvous with Romance!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Morte na Página 2

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the opening scenes, a "silenced" pistol is fired making very little noise. But the pistol is a revolver, and silencers work only on semi-automatic pistols.

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Connections

Referenced in American Me (1992)

User Reviews

confusing B movie

A really good cast, consisting of George Sanders, Gail Patrick, Richard Denning, and Sidney Blackmer stumble through "Quiet, Please: Murder," a 1942 film produced by 20th Century Fox.

I unfortunately saw a very poor print of this with fuzzy sound, which naturally hampered my enjoyment. The plot concerns a rare book scam, headed by Jim Fleg (Sanders) and Myra Blandy (Patrick). Fleg steals a rare book from the library, makes copies, sells them as stolen goods, and Blandy verifies the book's authenticity. When Myra insists on selling a fake book to a Nazi, against Fleg's orders, trouble ensues. A detective, Hal McByrne (Richard Denning) becomes involved and falls for Myra, who is playing him against Fleg.

Most of Fleg's dialogue is psychobabble, as he analyzes Myra and himself as people who like pain and desire punishment, etc. The story is convoluted, with Fleg, posing as a police officer, coming to the library to investigate a murder. He takes the opportunity to steal rare books, saying they need to be under police protection. The books are then stolen by Hal and consequently stolen by Myra.

It all gets pretty confusing, and if you could have seen the characters throwing around these supposedly fragile, valuable books without wearing gloves or taking any kind of care, it's too much. It's always great to see Sanders and Patrick (who, as Gail Patrick Jackson, wound up as producer of the Perry Mason TV series) - he makes a great villain and she's a wonderful femme fatale.

All in all, disjointed and disappointing.