Kid Glove Killer

In Zinneman's directorial debut, as in most of his films, the emphasis is on the interaction among human minds, souls, emotions, words, and actions. Forensic pathologist Heflin tries to clear accused killer Quillan from being railroaded by radio cop Lee Bowman. Marsha Hunt is marvelous as the lady caught in the triangle. John Litel is memorable in supporting role.

This low-budget MGM crime flick is surprisingly entertaining. The best way to enjoy it is to suspend what you know about today's film-making and settle into a more innocent time when plots—like the movies themselves—were in black and white, when characters were labeled good or bad, when dialog was crisply effective (though artificial) and when even the deadliest dramas ended with wedding bells. One thing that separates "Kid Glove Killer" from similar films of the 1930s and '40s is the fact that its protagonist, Gordon McKay (Van Heflin) is not only a cop. He's in charge of a police crime laboratory. With the aid of his assistant, Jane Mitchell (Marsha Hunt), McKay solves murders and rids the city of corruption by using a microscope, a spectrograph and other tools that—mutatis mutandis—will be used again in crime-scene-investigation stories for decades to come, up to and including the current "CSI" television series. McKay scrapes beneath fingernails, vacuums people's hair and analyzes fibers to get trace evidence that will nail the crooks. The fact that you know all along who the crooks are doesn't spoil the fun—it's that kind of movie. Embedded in the investigation is a love triangle whose outcome is so obvious that you can go for popcorn without missing a beat. The acting is above par. Van Heflin's performance is adept if unspectacular. (That same year Heflin won a best-supporting-actor Oscar for "Johnny Eager.") Lee Bowman is suavely manipulative as a power-seeker. Marsha Hunt makes what she can of a role that has her wearing a lab coat one minute and an evening gown the next. In those days, of course, it was a Hollywood cliché that a professional woman would slog away at her job only till she could junk it in favor of marriage. This movie observes the cliché, but there is a hint of feminism in the fact that Jane Mitchell—whom everyone calls simply "Mitchell"—works as a chemist, a job more often held by men. Notable among supporting players are John Litel as a crime boss and Eddie Quillan as a victimized citizen. If you look fast, you can see Ava Gardner and Robert Blake in uncredited bit parts. This was Fred Zinnemann's first feature film, and he keeps the whole thing moving to a time clock. The bare-bones production and its repeated use of the same interior sets are not major drawbacks. "Kid Glove Killer" was never intended to be pâté de foie gras. It's a ham sandwich. Pass the mustard.

Van Heflin plays the head of the police crime lab who investigates the murder of a district attorney and a mayor. His assistant (Marsha Hunt) is in love with him but he doesn't show her that kind of attention. So when his friend (Lee Bowman), a special prosecutor working for the mayor, starts romancing her we get ourselves a good old-fashioned love triangle.

Heflin is terrific and has great chemistry with lovely Hunt. The killer's identity is easy to figure out. It's pretty much the most obvious suspect. But thankfully the film doesn't expect that mystery to play out too long and we're let in on his identity relatively quickly. Pretty good B movie from director Fred Zinnemann (his first film). The script is smart and the forensic angle is fresh for the time. The love triangle part of the story is weak but that sort of thing was very common back then.

Everything about KID GLOVE KILLER is extremely dated. And yet it's fun to watch VAN HEFLIN and MARSHA HUNT go about solving a crime using old techniques and spouting a lot of artificial dialog, 1940s style.

Both of them also smoke frequently. "Match me," becomes a standard line. A cast of standard MGM B-players keeps things going nicely as Heflin and Marsh investigate the murder of a politician, when all the time we know who the killer is--LEE BOWMAN. Bowman is one of those actors who never quite made it to big time stardom, but he's completely at home here in the role of a ruthless heel.

All of the suspense in a story of this kind lies in wondering how the killer will be caught--since he's very manipulative and very cunning. His charm makes his criminal nature very deceptive to both Bowman and Hunt.

Favorite line: "Just bury me with one of your swell hamburgers on my chest." Reply: "With onions?"

If you watch carefully, you can spot BOBBY BLAKE as a youngster listening to a car radio and AVA GARDNER as a car-hop waitress.

This one, and GRAND CENTRAL MURDER made the same year, are well worth watching and nicely directed by Fred Zinnemann who later went on to A-film assignments.

Kid Gloves Killer (1942)

There might be little to recommend this movie beyond a look at Van Heflin in a constrained early role. Oh, and that the director is the noted Fred Zinneman himself. This is a crime caper formula movie, and it's enjoyable all through. For me, a highlight was the unexpected ease of the leading actress, Marsha Hunt (who is still alive at 100 years old as I write this). She is a kind of "regular girl" who everyone is meant to like, but she has a natural presence on screen that seems like should have meant something bigger. Maybe that kind of "normalness" isn't quite star material, not bigger than life. But see it for her, at least. Heflin is an acquired taste these days, but an interesting leading man a little different than the rest (he's great in "Martha Ivers" and "Act of Violence"). His role here is meant to be a really determined and incorruptable science guy in a crime lab. There is a little of that show-and-tell that happens in some detective movies of the time, but not too much to make it lag. The plot owes something to gangster films, where the big crime guy has the D.A. in his pocket. But this same man is also in love (or pretends to be) with the Hunt character. It's all in good entertainment fun, however, nothing too thrilling, and nothing too corny or cheap either. Back to Zinneman. This is his first feature film direction. The snappy, smart construction might be a sign of things to come, once he gets meatier material. Interesting!