Where to begin? Well, it's not good, that's for sure. It's flawed in so many ways, it's hard to find much of anything good to say about it.
1) The premise is contrived. One of those movies that must have been written backwards with earlier scenes created afterwards only to help somehow find their way to the climax that was the only thing pitched to the studio to get approval to make it.
2) The plot is far too convoluted for its 66 minute run-time. Again, the whole movie is meant to lead us to the final act, whether it naturally leads there or not.
3) The dialog is ridiculous - stilted and overly dramatic.
4) Character development is nearly non-existent. Most everything we learn about any of them comes almost strictly from others' descriptions of them awkwardly jammed into the script to save time.
5) The male actors are fairly indistinguishable from each other. If you don't pay close attention it's easy to lose track of who's who.
6) Female lead Jean Rogers couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. She's very pretty, but her acting is wooden and she delivers her lines as though she's reading the script for the first time as practice for her elocution coach.
7) Supporting actress Louise Currie can't act either. Also pretty, though in that cold, slightly trashy sort of way. You know, the kind of girl you might want to see, but never be seen with.
8) The soundtrack is generic, and like the dialog, often becomes overly dramatic and even inappropriate - at times more irritating than properly mood setting.
9) The cinematography and sets belie the flick's obviously low budget.
10) The two bright spots, as far as players in the movie goes, are wasted and get the least screen time - Sara Berner as the maid and. Wynne Larke as the detective's wife.
This is strictly a late night TCM diversion when there's nothing else on and you can't get to sleep (it may help).
