Sky Murder

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.