rowenalite
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rowenalite's rating
Only forty-five minutes long, The Hat Box Mystery is a fast-paced and feisty comedy/suspense combo. Directed by Lambert Hillyer, the 1947 release has a screenplay by Carl K. Hittleman and Don Martin that was based on a story by Hittleman and Maury Nunes.
The film opens in the office of private detective Russ Ashton (Tom Neal) sitting behind a desk and shuffling through papers. "Hello, folks," he says earnestly, looking directly at the camera and audience as he breaks the fourth wall. "Do you know what these are? Bills – unpaid bills." Russ glumly complains about the inability of his business to make a profit and then wryly suggests that he could "blame my secretary." That secretary, lovely, pert blonde Susan Hart (Pamela Blake), immediately joins Russ who informs the audience that he and Susan plan to marry someday. The scene is suddenly shaken by loud and disconcerting banging noises. Russ ironically observes, "That, no doubt, is my silent assistant, Harvard." Harvard (Allen Jenkins) takes a place beside Susan. "Everybody calls me Harvard – maybe because I never went to Yale," Harvard joshes, establishing himself as the comic foil to the sober Russ who then informs the audience that Harvard's sweetheart is Veronica Hoopler (Virginia Sale) who runs the nearby hamburger stand. The dark-haired, homely Veronica is soon clinging to Harvard. Harvard reminds Russ to "tell them our names." Then Russ tells the audience the names of the assembled actors and actresses. "Here's the rest of the cast," he continues and the screen switches to credits across a beautifully be-ribboned hatbox.
The opening establishes The Hat Box Mystery as a movie with a difference, a movie conscious of its own artifice and confident enough to ease into a film story line after proclaiming that artifice.
The mood switches dramatically as we see an urban area after dark, and then a woman walking in the darkness of that city street, and then a man following her. Ominous background music heightens the tension. "Just a minute, Mrs. Moreland," the man says. The well-dressed lady (Olga Andre) sharply protests, "I'm not giving you another penny. I'm finished with blackmail."
Cut to daylight, the Ashton Agency office, and the trio of Russ, Susan, and Harvard. There is a knock at the door. Russ hopefully speculates, "It might be a client." Wanting to impress someone presumed to be a potential client, Russ picks up the telephone receiver and, as a man walks into the room, Russ asserts in a stout voice, "I can't be running down to Washington to solve your tough cases." When Russ hangs up the phone, he asks the newcomer, "What can I do for you?"
"You can't do anything for me," the man replies with a thin, knowing smile. "I just wanted to tell you that now that your bill is paid, my partner is hooking up your phone. It should be on any minute."
The described scenes illustrate how this tight little film veers between chilling urban-jungle suspense and lively comic relief.
When Russ is – genuinely -- called away to Washington on a job, Susan takes over the office. Her first client (Leonard Penn) sports a singularly dramatic appearance. He is a bespectacled man with a goatee who walks in carrying a cane -- and a hatbox. He tells Susan that he suspects his wife, Marie Moreland, of seeing another man. He wants Susan to take a photograph of Mrs. Moreland as she comes out of the building in which this other man resides so he can have evidence to show a divorce court. Mr. Moreland shows Susan a picture of Marie. He tells Susan that Marie knows he is aware of her extracurricular activities and would avoid a camera if she noticed it. Thus, he has rigged up a camera inside the hatbox. Susan only has to pull a little lever outside the box and she can take the telltale photograph.
Happy to be on her first case, Susan assures Mr. Moreland that she is eager to perform the task that might get him the divorce he wants.
On the sidewalk before a swanky apartment complex, Susan exchanges pleasantries with a cop (Tom Kennedy) on the beat.
Marie Moreland walks out of the building. Susan points the hatbox at Marie Moreland and pulls the lever. A shot rings out and Marie collapses. The shocked Susan also sinks collapses.
Newspapers flash across the screen with headlines about the "Hat Box Mystery," how a detective's assistant is being held in the bizarre shooting, and how she blames a shadowy "Mr. Moreland."
Police investigators inform Susan that Marie has not had a husband for years. Susan is baffled. She is also deeply distressed to have shot another human being, however accidentally, flummoxed that someone apparently conned her into becoming an instrument of death, and terrified to face a murder charge. When Russ returns, he is determined to learn the truth of the matter and to clear Susan.
Much of the rest of this fast-paced film shows Russ figuring out the intricacies of a diabolically clever murder and frame-up.
What makes this brief film special is the way it successfully combines disparate genres and keeps the viewer interested. Between following a murder plot full of nefarious gangsters and tantalizing twists, we watch the comical – yet strangely touching – romantic machinations of bumbling Harvard and plain-faced but winsomely sweet Veronica. We remain interested through the film's genuinely surprising end.
As both a mystery and a comedy, The Hat Box Mystery is a killer of a cutie of a film.
The film opens in the office of private detective Russ Ashton (Tom Neal) sitting behind a desk and shuffling through papers. "Hello, folks," he says earnestly, looking directly at the camera and audience as he breaks the fourth wall. "Do you know what these are? Bills – unpaid bills." Russ glumly complains about the inability of his business to make a profit and then wryly suggests that he could "blame my secretary." That secretary, lovely, pert blonde Susan Hart (Pamela Blake), immediately joins Russ who informs the audience that he and Susan plan to marry someday. The scene is suddenly shaken by loud and disconcerting banging noises. Russ ironically observes, "That, no doubt, is my silent assistant, Harvard." Harvard (Allen Jenkins) takes a place beside Susan. "Everybody calls me Harvard – maybe because I never went to Yale," Harvard joshes, establishing himself as the comic foil to the sober Russ who then informs the audience that Harvard's sweetheart is Veronica Hoopler (Virginia Sale) who runs the nearby hamburger stand. The dark-haired, homely Veronica is soon clinging to Harvard. Harvard reminds Russ to "tell them our names." Then Russ tells the audience the names of the assembled actors and actresses. "Here's the rest of the cast," he continues and the screen switches to credits across a beautifully be-ribboned hatbox.
The opening establishes The Hat Box Mystery as a movie with a difference, a movie conscious of its own artifice and confident enough to ease into a film story line after proclaiming that artifice.
The mood switches dramatically as we see an urban area after dark, and then a woman walking in the darkness of that city street, and then a man following her. Ominous background music heightens the tension. "Just a minute, Mrs. Moreland," the man says. The well-dressed lady (Olga Andre) sharply protests, "I'm not giving you another penny. I'm finished with blackmail."
Cut to daylight, the Ashton Agency office, and the trio of Russ, Susan, and Harvard. There is a knock at the door. Russ hopefully speculates, "It might be a client." Wanting to impress someone presumed to be a potential client, Russ picks up the telephone receiver and, as a man walks into the room, Russ asserts in a stout voice, "I can't be running down to Washington to solve your tough cases." When Russ hangs up the phone, he asks the newcomer, "What can I do for you?"
"You can't do anything for me," the man replies with a thin, knowing smile. "I just wanted to tell you that now that your bill is paid, my partner is hooking up your phone. It should be on any minute."
The described scenes illustrate how this tight little film veers between chilling urban-jungle suspense and lively comic relief.
When Russ is – genuinely -- called away to Washington on a job, Susan takes over the office. Her first client (Leonard Penn) sports a singularly dramatic appearance. He is a bespectacled man with a goatee who walks in carrying a cane -- and a hatbox. He tells Susan that he suspects his wife, Marie Moreland, of seeing another man. He wants Susan to take a photograph of Mrs. Moreland as she comes out of the building in which this other man resides so he can have evidence to show a divorce court. Mr. Moreland shows Susan a picture of Marie. He tells Susan that Marie knows he is aware of her extracurricular activities and would avoid a camera if she noticed it. Thus, he has rigged up a camera inside the hatbox. Susan only has to pull a little lever outside the box and she can take the telltale photograph.
Happy to be on her first case, Susan assures Mr. Moreland that she is eager to perform the task that might get him the divorce he wants.
On the sidewalk before a swanky apartment complex, Susan exchanges pleasantries with a cop (Tom Kennedy) on the beat.
Marie Moreland walks out of the building. Susan points the hatbox at Marie Moreland and pulls the lever. A shot rings out and Marie collapses. The shocked Susan also sinks collapses.
Newspapers flash across the screen with headlines about the "Hat Box Mystery," how a detective's assistant is being held in the bizarre shooting, and how she blames a shadowy "Mr. Moreland."
Police investigators inform Susan that Marie has not had a husband for years. Susan is baffled. She is also deeply distressed to have shot another human being, however accidentally, flummoxed that someone apparently conned her into becoming an instrument of death, and terrified to face a murder charge. When Russ returns, he is determined to learn the truth of the matter and to clear Susan.
Much of the rest of this fast-paced film shows Russ figuring out the intricacies of a diabolically clever murder and frame-up.
What makes this brief film special is the way it successfully combines disparate genres and keeps the viewer interested. Between following a murder plot full of nefarious gangsters and tantalizing twists, we watch the comical – yet strangely touching – romantic machinations of bumbling Harvard and plain-faced but winsomely sweet Veronica. We remain interested through the film's genuinely surprising end.
As both a mystery and a comedy, The Hat Box Mystery is a killer of a cutie of a film.
Law & Order SVU is never bad IMO but this episode didn't live up to the general standard. The reason was it just made no sense. A case of bad behavior was prosecuted as rape. It was a sure loser. An awful man pretended to be an admissions officer at a posh university. Women anxious to get their kids into the upper echelon college had sex w/him in the belief he would admit them. Both parties acted badly. The women weren't very sympathetic -- after all, a kid isn't going to starve if he gets into a less prestigious university. The man was despicable but not a rapist. The whole thing was badly handled and made no greater point.
"Maybe most parents these days don't understand their children but they try." "The problems of youth confront the world today." "What is this younger generation coming to?" "You young people sure make it hard on your parents these days." "One generation has always blamed the other."
The above quotes from the 1944 flick Youth Aflame remind me of the saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." People are always apt to to think "these days" are the most stressful and bizarre in history just as today's young people are always the most rebellious in history.
Of course, there are changes that are real and I was reminded of that as well when characters in the film spout lines like "Police work is a man's job" and "Guns aren't for girls."
Youth Aflame begins with teenager Katy White (Joy Reese) lying in a hospital bed, clearly distraught and perhaps at death's door. After making the observation that begins this review, she tells most of the film's story in flashback. She is the good girl of the family, concerned about her rebellious sister Laura (Kay Morley) who is hanging out with an adult man named Al Simpson (Michael Owen) who is more than a bit anti-social. Expecting to marry Al, Laura steals a gun from her widowed Dad (Ed Cassidy) to give to Al. The no-good Al and crime partner Harry Ketchall (Edwin Brian) want the firearm for their nefarious doings but I'm getting a bit ahead of the story.
Katy hangs around with the more acceptable fellow teenager Frank Monahan (Warren Bur). The two plan to marry when they graduate high school.
Police officer Amy Clark (Mary Arden) shows up at the White home because she is concerned about Laura, Katy, and their fellow schoolmates. Together with the teens, a plan is made to keep them off the mean streets and out of trouble by forming a "Jive Club" at which the kids can socialize in a wholesome manner, imbibing milk and punch as well as dancing.
Some of the best parts of this black and white film are those of music and dancing. Performers Sheila Roberts and Johnny Duncan enthusiastically jitterbug at the Jive Club. Lindsay Bourquin, Laverne Thompson, and Betty Phares perform a wonderfully acrobatic dance at an adult nightclub. Karl Kiffe shows his masterful skill at the drums in a truly exciting Jive Club performance. Kiffe is worth mentioning because he was a teenager – 19 – when playing a teenager! By contrast, Rod Rogers was no less than 32 when playing the teen-aged Lester. Burr was a young adult – 21 – when playing high school student Frank. Although dates of birth were not given for the other major stars in this show in the Internet Movie Database, I believe it is safe to guess those playing the high school kids were in their twenties.
The Jive Club is a rousing success. But Al Simpson sees it as a threat so he and Laura spike the punch with booze. Then Al makes an anonymous call to the cops to tell of the under-aged drinking at the supposedly wholesome Jive Club. This leads at least one teen girl, Peggy Baker (Julie Duncan) to get punished in a nasty way by her mother which leads the youngster close to suicide.
Katy and Laura end up in a bedroom cat-fight, both in their pajamas, when each defends her respective boyfriend. While the cat-fight was probably meant to sexually appeal to the male audience members, a far more devastating event takes place when Laura realizes that Al is not the marrying sort.
Since I enjoyed the film, I looked up info on its major stars and found there was not much. They seemed to drop out from view after making this film or a few others.
Youth Aflame is not a masterpiece. However, the cheaply made film is well worth its rather brief viewing time of only one minute over the hour. The events move at a quick clip and the acting is more than acceptable. Like other juvenile delinquent films from past eras, it can function as a reminder of certain basic truths: yesterday's rebellious teen is today's old codger. After all, the people who played the teen characters in this film, young adults at the time, are likely to be dead of old-age related illnesses today.
Although if Warren Burr, Kay Morley, Joy Reese, Sheila Roberts, and/or Julie Duncan happen to be alive, I'd like to thank them for playing their roles well in this film.
The above quotes from the 1944 flick Youth Aflame remind me of the saying, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." People are always apt to to think "these days" are the most stressful and bizarre in history just as today's young people are always the most rebellious in history.
Of course, there are changes that are real and I was reminded of that as well when characters in the film spout lines like "Police work is a man's job" and "Guns aren't for girls."
Youth Aflame begins with teenager Katy White (Joy Reese) lying in a hospital bed, clearly distraught and perhaps at death's door. After making the observation that begins this review, she tells most of the film's story in flashback. She is the good girl of the family, concerned about her rebellious sister Laura (Kay Morley) who is hanging out with an adult man named Al Simpson (Michael Owen) who is more than a bit anti-social. Expecting to marry Al, Laura steals a gun from her widowed Dad (Ed Cassidy) to give to Al. The no-good Al and crime partner Harry Ketchall (Edwin Brian) want the firearm for their nefarious doings but I'm getting a bit ahead of the story.
Katy hangs around with the more acceptable fellow teenager Frank Monahan (Warren Bur). The two plan to marry when they graduate high school.
Police officer Amy Clark (Mary Arden) shows up at the White home because she is concerned about Laura, Katy, and their fellow schoolmates. Together with the teens, a plan is made to keep them off the mean streets and out of trouble by forming a "Jive Club" at which the kids can socialize in a wholesome manner, imbibing milk and punch as well as dancing.
Some of the best parts of this black and white film are those of music and dancing. Performers Sheila Roberts and Johnny Duncan enthusiastically jitterbug at the Jive Club. Lindsay Bourquin, Laverne Thompson, and Betty Phares perform a wonderfully acrobatic dance at an adult nightclub. Karl Kiffe shows his masterful skill at the drums in a truly exciting Jive Club performance. Kiffe is worth mentioning because he was a teenager – 19 – when playing a teenager! By contrast, Rod Rogers was no less than 32 when playing the teen-aged Lester. Burr was a young adult – 21 – when playing high school student Frank. Although dates of birth were not given for the other major stars in this show in the Internet Movie Database, I believe it is safe to guess those playing the high school kids were in their twenties.
The Jive Club is a rousing success. But Al Simpson sees it as a threat so he and Laura spike the punch with booze. Then Al makes an anonymous call to the cops to tell of the under-aged drinking at the supposedly wholesome Jive Club. This leads at least one teen girl, Peggy Baker (Julie Duncan) to get punished in a nasty way by her mother which leads the youngster close to suicide.
Katy and Laura end up in a bedroom cat-fight, both in their pajamas, when each defends her respective boyfriend. While the cat-fight was probably meant to sexually appeal to the male audience members, a far more devastating event takes place when Laura realizes that Al is not the marrying sort.
Since I enjoyed the film, I looked up info on its major stars and found there was not much. They seemed to drop out from view after making this film or a few others.
Youth Aflame is not a masterpiece. However, the cheaply made film is well worth its rather brief viewing time of only one minute over the hour. The events move at a quick clip and the acting is more than acceptable. Like other juvenile delinquent films from past eras, it can function as a reminder of certain basic truths: yesterday's rebellious teen is today's old codger. After all, the people who played the teen characters in this film, young adults at the time, are likely to be dead of old-age related illnesses today.
Although if Warren Burr, Kay Morley, Joy Reese, Sheila Roberts, and/or Julie Duncan happen to be alive, I'd like to thank them for playing their roles well in this film.