The Inner Circle (1946)

A private detective finds himself with a perfect new secretary. But after a notorious gossip columnist turns up murdered, she may prove too good to be true.

Director:

Philip Ford

Writers:

Dorrell McGowan, Stuart E. McGowan,

Stars:

Adele Mara, Warren Douglas, William Frawley

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Adele Mara	...	Geraldine Travis, alias Gerry Smith
Warren Douglas	...	Johnny Strange
William Frawley	...	Det. Lt. Webb
Ricardo Cortez	...	Duke York
Virginia Christine	...	Rhoda Roberts
Ken Niles	...	Ken, Radio Announcer
Will Wright	...	Henry Boggs
Dorothy Adams	...	Emma Wilson
Martha Montgomery	...	Anne Travis Lowe
Edward Gargan	...	Parking Ticket Cop
Fred Graham	...	Duke's Henchman
Eddie Parker	...	Duke's Henchman
Robert J. Wilke	...	Police Officer Cummings (as Bob Wilke)

Storyline

Before he can finish placing his help-wanted ad over the phone, the perfect candidate shows up at the office of Johnny Strange and fills the position of secretary without even giving Johnny a chance to say yes. She immediately takes the call from a new client, a mysterious woman with a Spanish accent. When Johnny meets her, the client is dressed all in black and wearing a heavy veil that conceals her face. She takes him to a house with a corpse lying in it, and asks him to take care of it. Before Johnny can call the police she knocks him unconscious with a bookend. He wakes up to see Det. Lt. Webb, who tells him the dead man is a notorious gossip columnist with a popular radio program. A nightclub manager, a singer, a housekeeper, a hard-of-hearing groundskeeper and two beautiful blondes are among the whos who may have done it.

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Plot Keywords:

secretary | gossip columnist | hard of hearing | spanish accent | private detective | 

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Genres:

Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 August 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Twisted Circle

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

57 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Johnny Strange: [over the phone] Hello, this is Johnny Strange of Action Incorporated. No, not Strange Action Incorporated. Johnny Strange *of* Action Incorporated. Yeah. I want to place an ad in the Help Wanted Female. Mm-hm. Wanted: secretary to human dynamo. Exclamation point. Must be blonde, beautiful, between 22 and 28, unmarried, with a skin you love to touch and a heart you can't.

User Reviews

Witty fast moving mystery is better than you think it should be thanks to a good cast delivering great lines

Johnny Strange of Action Incorporated is interrupted by a beautiful woman while placing an ad for a secretary. She hangs up on the newspaper and takes the job. When a mysterious call comes in not long after Johnny finds himself knocked out and framed for the murder of a sleazy radio show announcer (ala Walter Winchell). Johnny must now try to solve the case before he ends up behind bars for the murder.

This is a fast moving mystery thriller with a smart ass attitude and a never ending stream of one liners. Running around 55 minutes this movie starts from the first frame and zips right on by to the last. To be certain the film shows signs of a reduced budget, there are only so many sets, but the film over comes the limitations by being very witty. The cast which includes William Frawley as a cop, Ricardo Cortez as suspect William Douglas as Johnny and first (?) billed Adele Mara as the secretary is first rate. The rest of the cast is filled out with many familiar faces and they all come together to make what could have and should have been a less than sterling little mystery into something that is actually quite enjoyable.

Definitely worth a bowl of popcorn and a soda (especially on a multi feature evening on a rainy night)