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A breezy mystery is given some nice performances from Bonita Granville and Morgan Conway as they attempt to solve crime in the big city.

I'm so used to seeing Bonita in some of her childhood roles, usually as a bratty teenager and later on as Nancy Drew, that it comes as a surprise to see how well she handled this adult role as an attorney.

The plot is sometimes light on logic and the ending using a lie detector test comes across as too pat a conclusion. It might have been better to furnish a stronger finish to the tale.

But it passes the time pleasantly enough, even if the guilty party becomes pretty obvious before the final scene.

Morgan Conway stars with an adult Bonita Granville in "The Truth About Murder," a 1946 film.

Granville plays Christine Allen, an attorney in love with the D.A. (Morgan Conway). She would like to practice law, but he wants her to marry him and garden and get pregnant. You think this film is a little dated? When a philandering friend of theirs (June Clayworth) is murdered, her husband is accused, and Christine takes his case.

The film has a couple of holes, plus I knew who the murderer was about ten minutes in and then it all seemed so obvious as to be ridiculous.

The performances are fine. There's something really neat about Morgan Conway - he had such a strong face and nice delivery - and Granville does a good job as well. I think this is the first adult thing I've seen her do.

The end - well, let's just say the film is dated and leave it at that.

Christine Allen (Bonita Granville) administers lie detector tests for the district attorney, Les Ashton (Morgan Conway), but wants to become a prosecutor in court. Frustrated, she leaves Les to work for lawyer Bill Crane, whose unhappy wife Marsha, a photographer, makes large bets with bookie Johnny Lacka and openly flirts with model Peggy's husband.

Les is in love with Chris and wants her back. He fools Bill into believing Marsha wants to reconcile, but instead Paul Marvin turns up, telling Bill he and Marsha have become romantically involved. Marsha then is found dead. Les and the police naturally suspect Bill.

At a party, Chris convinces her guests to take one of her lie detector tests.

Bonita Granville adds some zest to this engaging mystery that features a wife who loves men, which makes her a target of a killer. There's a strewn of suspects, a second murder and a heroine who, against her boyfriend's wishes, runs around, investigating.

The Truth About Murder (1946)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Fans of the mystery/murder genre should find this one entertaining enough to sit through. A husband finds out that his wife is about to leave him and before long she's found shot to death. The husband is arrested but his friend/attorney (Bonita Granville) thinks he's innocent so she sets out to prove it while her boyfriend/D.A. (Morgan Conway) tries to prove his guilt. THE TRUTH ABOUT MURDER is a pretty entertaining "B" film and especially for fans of Granville. Most film buffs will remember her as Nancy Drew and various other roles that she did as a child. It's always interesting seeing child stars in more adult roles and I thought Granville did a very good job here. She was quite believable in her part but she also managed to carry the film with her charm and especially with some nice comic timing. Conway was also very good in his supporting role and I thought the two stars had some nice chemistry together. The plot itself is a tad bit too easy to follow as it's very clear who the killer is, although the reason that comes out at the end was a bit far-fetched. Director Lew Landers at least keeps the pace of the film going very well and the 63-minutes fly by.

Competent B mystery. A nice opening, listen closely to the dialog. Bonita Granville is a forceful career woman who handles herself competently (given it's 1946), but don't miss the last line in the movie! First part moves along nicely, but slows down near the end as it gets less logical. It's entertaining with okay dialog.

June Clayworth is good as a loose married woman. This film is apparently not on VHS or DVD, but I saw it on TCM.