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 Francis Larkin (as John Larkin)

Writers:

John Francis Larkin (screenplay) (as John Larkin), Lawrence G. Blochman (story "Death From the Sanskrit")

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

Jim Fleg (George Sanders), a ruthless, egotistical criminal, steals a priceless Shakespeare folio from the public library, killing a guard during the crime. With his partner, Myra Blandy (Gail Patrick), Fleg forges and sells copies of the folio to unscrupulous collectors. Hal McByrne (Richard Denning), a tough, unrelenting detective traces several of the forgeries back to Myra. She and Fled plot to eliminate McBryne at the scene of the original crime---the public library. In the meantime, a buyer of one of the forgeries is demanding his money back--or else---and trails Myra and Fleg to the library.

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Plot Keywords:

library | public library | forgery | collector | shakespeare folio | 

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Taglines:

PUT A GUN IN HIS HANDS! PUT A GIRL IN HIS ARMS!...and it's excitement all the way! (original print ad)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Death from the Sanskrit

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first 'rocket men' movie/serial.

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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

Slick Little Programmer

Master forger of rare books (Sanders) gets mixed up with Nazis (Blackmer), a detective (Denning) and a double-crossing dame (Patrick).

The convoluted script may take a Rosetta Stone to solve, still it's a slickly done TCF programmer. Those two smoothies Sanders and Patrick are well cast as a couple of A-team masochists, engaged in a game of one-upmanship and about as trustworthy as rattlesnakes. In fact, Patrick's character qualifies for the Devious Dame Hall of Fame, with her warm personality and stone cold heart. Still, I'm a bit surprised that some of that pain-loving dialog Sanders relishes made it past the censors. Usually old Hollywood just hinted at such things instead of belaboring them.

Denning and Roberts are clearly America's team, though Denning may wobble at times. One thing for sure—set design and art direction come cheap since most of the action takes place in a single setting, a library. Still, director Larkin keeps things moving. And get a load of baldy Kurt Katch's mute Nazi. He's about as inviting as the polar ice cap and just as chilling. But, I'm still wondering which thug belongs to which gang, which does get confusing.

Oh well, things do sort out, I think. Then too, it's 1942 and the war is still in doubt. Byron Foulger's officious little air warden may be on the silly side, but the blackouts weren't. These old movies do show us things the history books can't. Anyhow, the movie may be nothing to write home about. But it's still impressive how Hollywood could turn out such slick little programmers in the middle of a big war.