Time to Kill (1942)

A private detective is hired to retrieve a valuable antique coin that was stolen from its owner by her son, who used it to pay off a blackmailer. The private eye soon finds himself up to ... See full summary »

Director:

Herbert I. Leeds

Writers:

Clarence Upson Young (screenplay), Raymond Chandler (novel),

Stars:

Lloyd Nolan, Heather Angel, Doris Merrick

Cast

Cast overview:
Lloyd Nolan	...	Michael Shayne
Heather Angel	...	Myrle Davis
Doris Merrick	...	Linda Conquest Murdock
Ralph Byrd	...	Lou Venter, bodyguard
Richard Lane	...	Lt. Breeze
Sheila Bromley	...	Lois Morny
Morris Ankrum	...	Alexander Morny
Ethel Griffies	...	Mrs. Murdock

Storyline

A private detective is hired to retrieve a valuable antique coin that was stolen from its owner by her son, who used it to pay off a blackmailer. The private eye soon finds himself up to his ears in fights, more blackmail, hysterical women and murder.

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Plot Keywords:

private detective | michael shayne | hole in shoe | based on novel

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Taglines:

Mike Shayne in a killer-diller of a chiller-diller... with no time out to count the corpses!

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Genres:

Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Murder, Murder Everywhere

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

61 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Three on a Ticket (1947)

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Soundtracks

"I Had the Craziest Dream"
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Mack Gordon
Music by Harry Warren

User Reviews

Zippy Mike Shayne outing, based on Chandler story. Only complaint: it's too short.

Time to Kill (Herbert I. Leeds, 1942) – Lloyd Nolan's final outing as Michael Shayne, Fox Studios' cocky private eye, is one of the earliest Raymond Chandler adaptations, drawing its inspiration from The High Window. Shayne – the irrepressible, quick-witted, appealing Nolan – takes on an apparently simple assignment from the wealthy Mrs Murdoch (Ethel Griffies) and finds the bodies piling up around him. Fox's lack of faith in the series is evidenced by the slim running time, with this one playing barely more than an hour. That means you get 56 minutes of tightly-scripted thriller – with a sardonic sense of humour – before the scripters have to cram in a wordy, five-minute explanation of Chandler's convoluted plot. It's an absolute riot until then, though, and a return to form after a slightly disappointing sixth outing.

The series opener – Michael Shayne, Private Detective – is a classic of its type, with a hilarious script and slick, fast-moving direction, making a virtue of its low budget. The second film put him on a train (Sleepers West), the third took him to a theatre (Dressed to Kill) and the fourth and fifth appeared to have been made with spare Charlie Chan screenplays someone had left lying around. There's something of the Warner Oland Chan about the ship-bound Blue, White and Perfect, while The Man Who Wouldn't Die – set in a haunted house and with a genuinely ingenious mystery – is pure Toler. Just Off Broadway, which had Shayne solving a case whilst sitting on a jury, was less accomplished, but this one ends the Nolan series on a high, effortlessly recapturing the flavour of the first film. Tracing a murky investigation from the second Shayne gets pitched into the mystery – fielding the call in his dingy office and reeling off a list of made-up references – to the moment he wraps it up, it's a real treat. It's also nice to see Shayne get a girlfriend who can handle him. An extra 10 minutes would have been welcome, allowing the whodunit to be unwrapped in a more leisurely fashion and providing time during the climax for something other than solid exposition, though given half a chance I'm sure Nolan would have spent it all wisecracking anyway.