Sky Murder

When I heard "Nick Carter," I was expecting a dark, noir-ish hard boiled detective story, along the lines of Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. "Sky Murder" is anything but.

I thought the first few scenes of the movie were so bad, I was going to give it a 3 and turn it off. (No movie can score higher than a 3 with me if I can't stand it till the end.)

For some reason, though, and it wasn't any sudden change in plot or acting, I kept with it. It was more than three quarters of the way through, more than 45 minutes into the film, that I suddenly realized this is a rollicking adventure story aimed at eight-year-old boys, with no pretensions of being anything but a good time. It is a comic book come to life, sort of like the old Superman TV show from the fifties.

Once I realized that, the movie became much more enjoyable.

I don't know if an eight-year-old would enjoy it today, though. It's not full of fast action, has no gunfire, and of course it has no CG.

So, without modern kid appeal, and, as other reviewers have shown, it doesn't hold much for adult viewers, I'm afraid this well-done and entertaining film is probably destined for obscurity.

A body is found in a locked airplane compartment and a German female refugee is a suspect. Passenger detective Nick Carter is convinced she didn't do it and works to solve the mysterious murder.

A fairly entertaining mix of comedy, crime, adventure in the mould of the Lone Wolf/Philo Vance, however the comedy, though bubbly and amusing, can mar the thriller aspects, I. E: hero takes on the fifth columnist, and though it's great to see Walter Pigeon playing a suave character, his interplay with his sidekick - Donald Meek is hilarious in this role and the best thing here - is lacking, in a sense that Pigeon isn't playful enough and just yells at him to get out. Overall, it's enjoyable but could've been better with a more balanced approach in its mix of genre.

Prior to America's entry into WWII, two Fifth Columnists are in a car wreck while carrying a load of pamphlets that read "Don't let them dope you with democracy pills." That's catchy. Not. The action takes place in and near Washington D.C. and Senator Monrose and his aide, Cortland Grant, ask Nick Carter to investigate. As a sweetener, Grant has invited five "models" to entertain Carter. One of the models is a German refugee who the bad guys try to recruit as a Fifth Columnist by telling her that her family is in a concentration camp ( now that's an interesting reference). Escorting the models is the dumb and ditsy private detective Chris Cross. Sometimes dumb and ditsy can be amusing but not in this case; Joyce Compton as Chris is more annoying than funny. And that Nick Carter fell for her is just not believable. On the other hand, Donald Meek as Bartholomew the beekeeper is less annoying and more amusing that he was in the first film in the series. For me, the most interesting supporting actors were Chill Wills and Tom Conway. Conway went on to play The Falcon in an entertaining B detective series. There is one great line in the movie. Carter asks Senator Monrose if he would be willing to do something a little dangerous that might involve getting a knife in the back. Monrose replies, "Son, I've been a politician for forty years and a knife in the back is an old story to me." The movie is entertaining enough and worth a watch if for no other reason than it stars Walter Pidgeon.

Master detective Nick Carter as played by Walter Pidgeon tangles with fifth columnists in Sky Murder. During the course of the film a murder does take place in a millionaire's private plane and at the climax another is attempted, but foiled.

United States Senator George Lessey tips the famous private eye to this nest of traitors, but the leaders are an illusive group. His Senate investigating committee is looking into this and he'd like Carter to work for them.

Of course Walter Pidgeon does things in his own way with sidekick Donald Meek with his ever present bees. They key seems to be refugee girl Kaaren Verne who is being pressured and not quite leveling with Pidgeon or anyone else about her situation.

Once again Donald Meek whom I usually love as a character actor is downright annoying in this as he was in the other Nick Carter films as the bee man. Sometimes he's more of a danger to Pidgeon than the bad guys.

Take note of Dorothy Tree in this film, she plays a hardcore Bundist type and well. Tree who later had blacklist troubles saw the other side of the struggle as the underground leader in the famous camp classic, Hitler - Dead Or Alive.

There's a little more MGM type gloss to these Carter films which is also a bit out of place. But MGM didn't know how to do it any other way in the days of Louis B. Mayer.

"Sky Murder" turned out to be Nick Carter's final case, which is a shame. The series had a lot going for it, including handsome, commanding Walter Pidgeon as Carter in one of his best roles. "Sky Murder" is a fast-moving mystery involving subversives - Nazis no doubt. Ten years later and it would have been Communists. After a murder in a locked airplane compartment, a German refugee (Kaaren Verne) becomes a suspect, and Nick is sure she didn't do it. It's never easy for Nick to work on a case because of people who won't leave him alone, and this time is no different. Donald Meek as Bartholemew is still around with his bees, and he has a hilarious fight scene. There's also a pseudo-detective, Christine Cross (Joyce Compton) who is a complete airhead.

This series had a nice, chaotic and humorous feel to it, with the anchor ably provided by Pidgeon who puts up with Bartholemew and here, Compton, but never seems to get flustered. Really fun. It's a shame there were so few of the Nick Carter films.