Midnight Intruder

Louis Hayward stars as the midnight intruder. He and J.C. Nugent are broke and caught in the rain and break into a house for shelter. Before they can get comfortable for the night, in come Robert Greig as the inevitable butler and a full staff. They think he is John Reitter Jr., the prodigal son of the house, returned while his parents are on a cruise. They settle in for a taste of the good life, until Sheila Bromley shows up. She is the wife of the real John Jr., who has just been arrested under an assumed name for murdering a political boss...

It's a complicated and nicely ornamented production directed by Arthur Lubin; four years earlier, it would have been a sturdy Pre-Code starring Lew Ayres, but Ayres had left years earlier and was now working at MGM. There are a couple of issues. Hayward is a bit loud in his brashness, and the ending is a little quick and neat. The later issue is caused, no doubt, by the movie's short length (less than 68 minutes), but the intricate plot and screwball overtones make this a pleasing, if minor, story.