... says the villain, figuratively if not literally, in true Scooby Doo tradition in this entertaining and amusing entry from MGM and director George Seitz.
Local newspaper editor Barton Newbold is always talking about the exploits of local gambling house owner "Natural" Davis (Ian Hunter), who always manages to avoid getting raided. But Davis can't avoid being arrested, charged, and convicted for murder when he visits a woman who has been blackmailing him and finds her already dead from a gunshot wound. The police had been following him and catch him standing over the body, gun in hand. He is given a life sentence.
Davis' son, Johnny (Gene Reynolds) and the newspaper editor's son, Byron (Jackie Cooper) decide to team up along with their friends and solve the murder. Whether Johnny's dad is proven to be the killer or not they say they will shake hands and stay friends. Causing a bit of discord is the fact that they are both sweet on a local girl, Kate (Bonita Granville), who is also helping with this investigation.
This turned out to be a pretty interesting film, from the kids following the clues that help them find the murderer, to the camaraderie depicted among this diverse group of teens, to the interesting way in which they bring said murderer down. After all, the murderer is not going to be stressed out by what a bunch of kids happen to think with no proof - or will he?
Being a pre-war production code MGM family film of the period, don't expect much gritty reality. Take professional gambler Natural Davis. To begin with, wholesome looking Ian Hunter just doesn't give off the vibe of a professional gambler. Plus note his lecture to son Johnny about how he should not try to be like him and to keep his nose clean and in books. And I have to wonder about where the character name "Natural Davis" came from. It's odd because in 1930 William Powell played a professional gambler with the exact same name, although being a pre-code he was not cast from the same wholesome mold as Ian Hunter's interpretation. I can't find a real person who was a gambler who had this name.
I'd recommend this for the ensemble acting as well as for seeing Gail Patrick play a likeable person for a change, although I have to wonder how she felt about, at age 29, having 17-year-old Bonita Granville call her "mommy" throughout the film.
