Most folks today would have no idea who Neil Hamilton was, even though he was a movie star in the late 20s into the 40s. Those who might recognize the name might remember him as Commissioner Gordon from the old "Batman" television show....but very few would know about his pictures in which he was a handsome leading man. As I expected, Neil Hamilton was excellent in this picture...and he made the movie watchable in the lead. Unfortunately, nothing else about the film was particularly good.
The story is very similar to the popular Thin Man movies. Duke (Hamilton) is a detective who used to be a cop...and he has a long history of hanging out with all sorts of unsavory characters and helping them with their problems. His wife, however, wants him to stop this nonsense. She's a successful lawyer and wants him to begin working for more respectable types. However, when Duke is pulled into another case of an unsavory group of characters, his wife finds herself inextricably pulled into it and soon begins to understand why Duke associates with these sorts of folks. In particular, they work on convincing the police that a lady who escaped from jail is actually innocent of murdering the judge assigned to her case.
Poor writing is THE problem with this budget B-movie. Too many cliches, too much bad dialog and too many familiar moments make this watchable...but just barely.
The story is very similar to the popular Thin Man movies. Duke (Hamilton) is a detective who used to be a cop...and he has a long history of hanging out with all sorts of unsavory characters and helping them with their problems. His wife, however, wants him to stop this nonsense. She's a successful lawyer and wants him to begin working for more respectable types. However, when Duke is pulled into another case of an unsavory group of characters, his wife finds herself inextricably pulled into it and soon begins to understand why Duke associates with these sorts of folks. In particular, they work on convincing the police that a lady who escaped from jail is actually innocent of murdering the judge assigned to her case.
Poor writing is THE problem with this budget B-movie. Too many cliches, too much bad dialog and too many familiar moments make this watchable...but just barely.