We had a blast last night, with another Ann Savage comedy. In "Midnight Manhunt"(1945), the search is on for the corpse of "Joe Wells" (George E. Stone), a jewel thief who gets shot by "Mr. Jelke" (George Zucco) at the beginning of the movie. Jelke steals his diamonds, and the dying Wells stumbles into a nearby wax museum, where he expires. The museum is conveniently devoted to likenesses of dead gangsters, so when the night watchman thinks he's found Wells's body in the lobby, he's quite excited. But then he goes back to double check, and it's gone. That's because ace crime reporter "Sue Gallagher" (Savage), has hidden it in the museum so that she can write a scoop: "Wells Found Dead in Wax Museum!" She'll also collect a five thousand dollar reward. Meanwhile, "Mr. Miggs" (Charles Halton), the museum's elderly owner, finds Wells' corpse among the exhibits (where Sue Gallagher hid it), and wants to turn it in, but his janitor "Clutch Tracy" (Leo Gorcey of Bowery Boys fame) talks him into hiding the body in a freight car to avoid being accused of the murder. The cops think Wells has been dead for years, and don't believe Sue Gallagher's reports. Then Mr. Jelke comes back to dispose of the corpse, and takes Gallagher hostage in the process.
This one's a Poverty Row cheapie, but the players are "all in", so it's hoot. It's basically a case of "where's Wells's body"? set in a macabre wax museum, with Leo Gorcey providing comic relief with his malaprop-laden schtick, and expository dialogue to help the audience through the confusion. Ann Savage is goofy-tough this time around. Her foil is "Pete Willis" (William Gargan), a reporter for a rival paper who wants to break the story too. Savage keeps beating him to the punch, until she's kidnapped by George Zucco. Then of course, Willis has to come to her rescue, setting the stage for romance in the end. If you're a Savage fan (which you should be by now), it's interesting to watch her in this role. She employs a lot of "actressy" mannerisms and reactions that would've endeared her to large audiences, I think, had her career taken off the way it should have. We'll also have to look for more from Leo Gorcey, who's a riot as "Clutch" the janitor. His pairing with Charles Halton as "Miggs" the museum owner is comedic oil and vinegar. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Midnight Manhunt". Enjoy it for what it is, a daffy farce. Get lost in the wax museum and the fun. The picture is a little on the grey side. ////
In "Bank Alarm"(1937), the previous night's film, Conrad Nagel stars as "Alan O'Connor", an FBI agent hunting down a bank robbery gang in Los Angeles. He's at odds with police chief "Macy" (William L. Thorne), who's arrested Bugs O' Hearn, the guy who pulled the latest job, but Bugs is just an operative, a lackey. O'Connor is after the big fish, the brains behind the gang. When Bugs is shot dead, to keep him from naming names, O'Connor is upset with the Chief, for screwing up his investigation.
Then he goes out to a nightclub with his girlfriend "Bobbie" (Eleanor Hunt). His sister "Kay" (Wilma Francis) tags along. She's asked to dance by the handsome "Jerry Turner" (Frank Milan), a patron. When he excuses himself to use the telephone, we find out that Turner is a member of the bank robbery gang. He reports directly to "Mr. Karlotti" (Wheeler Oakman, great movie star name), the owner of the nightclub. Karlotti wants to move on from banks to bigger jobs. What could be bigger than a bank? A payroll heist, that's what. Hey, I'm just going by what Karlotti says. He knows of a stash of 40 grand that's being held at a post office in Nevada. He sends Jerry Turner and another lout there, to pose as vagrants. The idea is for them to get arrested (because the Sheriff in the town hates vagrants), and then to break into the post office, because it's in the same building as the jail. It's a clever setup and it works. The men steal the money, they are let out of jail the next day with an admonition to leave town. They do this and return to Los Angeles with the 40 thousand dollars.
The trouble for Mr. Karlotti begins when he starts to work with a counterfeiter. The guy creates a perfect looking Fitty Dolla Bill, but by sheer coincidence, he gives it a serial number that is identical to one of the stolen Fitties from the payroll job. Agent O'Connor finds it in the wallet of Jerry Turner, who he already suspects is a criminal. He uses his sister to set him up, and figures whoever engraved the Fitty must be in on the payroll job (although it's a screenwriter's stretch to suggest that the engraver would use the same serial number by accident).
Well, anyhow, by now, Mr. Karlotti is circling the wagons, because he knows the bogus bill has tripped him up. He then has Jerry Turner set up a plan to kidnap O'Connor's sister Kay, to get him to back off the gang. O'Connor's girlfriend Bobbie poses as an intrepid reporter to get close to Mr. Karlotti. She pretends to be sympathetic to his plight as an unjustly persecuted "honest businessman".
Comic relief (if you can call it that) is supplied by Vince Barnett as a perpetually inept photographer. He keeps tripping over his box camera, a few too many times for my liking, hardy-har-har (not!). A little would have gone a long way in this department, however, the overuse of this gag doesn't upend the plot, which is multi-layered and has subthemes to spare. This is one of those 60 minute scripts that has A Ton of Stuff Going On, and it was written by Eleanor Hunt, who plays Bobbie.
I loved "Bank Alarm" (except for Vince Barnett), and I especially enjoyed Frank Milan's performance as Jerry Turner. He does the Snidely Whiplash "arch villain" vocal delivery, like Ralf Harolde the other night in "Framed". According to Wiki, the movie was one in a series of four crime flicks, in which Conrad Nagel and Eleanor Hunt were teamed up as Agent O'Connor and Bobbie. We'll have to look for the other three, as "Bank Alarm" gets Two Big Thumbs Up. It's highly recommended, and the picture is razor sharp. /////
That's all for tonight. I hope you had a nice weekend. I'm batting 100% on Wordle and I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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