Last night's movie was a low budget but effective murder mystery called "Special Agent K7"(1936), with an interesting credit in the title sequence that reads "Personally Produced by CC Burr". Is he implying that other producers used stand-ins? Well, at any rate, Walter McGrail stars as the FBI man of the title. His character's real name is used for most of the picture, and you'll get a kick out of it, just as you did the other night with a similar name in "The Feud Maker". I'll use the actor's name for the rest of this review, just to maintain the surprise. McGrail is sent in by the Feds to investigate a court case in which "Eddie Geller" (Willy Castello), a Mob-connected casino owner, is set free by a hung jury when he should've been convicted by overwhelming evidence for murder. His lawyer "Lester Owens" (Irving Pichel) guaranteed him this outcome, and both the FBI and the judge think something is hinky. When the judge orders a retrial, Owens tells tells Eddie not to worry, there won't be another trial, and before Agent K7 shows up, he's out of jail and riding high.
Then McGrail starts asking questions, joined by the press, who are led by his old friend, reporter "Ollie O'Dea" (Queenie Smith), who's knows him from other cases. In a screenwriter's coincidence, she's about to marry one of the waiters at Eddie Geller's casino. Another waiter is infatuated with "Peppy" (Joyce Hodges), the casino chanteuse, who sings a sultry song and plays piano. The waiter visits her backstage, and when Geller catches them in the clutch, a punchout ensues. This sets up resentment on the waiter's part, and he becomes a potential suspect when Geller is shot dead the next night. But in between, we see that he had many enemies, including the other waiter, Ollie O'Dea's fiance. Why did the waiters dislike Eddie Geller? Because they both owed him money for gambling debts, and Eddie was putting the strong arm on them in addition to charging exorbitant interest. Did one of them kill Eddie? The coppers think so. They're leaning on "Tony Blank" (Duncan Reynaldo), the waiter who is in tight with Peppy, but then he too is shot dead in the street. That leaves "Billy Westrop" (Donald Reed), Ollie's guy, who was seen running away right after Eddie Geller was killed. He gets charged with murder, and with Geller deceased and no longer a client, Lester Owens takes Westrop's case. He's notorious as a fixer-lawyer.
Owens is acting smug again with the press, smirking as he guarantees an acquittal for Billy Westrop. But in private, he tells Billy "the only way I can clear you is if your plead insanity." Meanwhile, McGrail - aka Agent K7 - performs a chemical analysis of a handprint found at the Tony Blank murder scene. This leads to him being called as a surprise witness in Billy Westrop's trial, and I can't tell you what happens after that, but the film has a natural banter between the characters that feels like real life. Queenie Smith is especially good as reporter O'Dea, who knows that her First Amendment rights will get her closer to this Federal investigation than even the city detectives are allowed. She has a natural rapport with McGrail, who treats her as an equal. She's right there in the room during almost every step of the investigation, just like an ace reporter would be. On top of that, her fiance is the suspect in both murders. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Special Agent K7". Good job, CC Burr! Thanks for personally producing this small crime gem, and kudos on naming McGrail's character. The picture is the slightest bit soft. ////
The previous night we saw an early Tim McCoy, "The Fighting Marshall"(1931), in which Tim is uncharacteristically in prison, having been framed for the murder of his father. But he's about to be paroled because his sentence is up. Why he would choose to escape at this juncture is anyone's guess, but I didn't write the script and besides, if he didn't escape, with the assistance of fellow convict "Red Larkin" (Marshall Betz), we'd never get to see the two of them hop a boxcar and ride through the Chatsworth Park train tunnel. This happens five minutes after the movie opens and you'll cheer when you see it, because Tim McCoy and Red jump out and roll down the side of the hill, right into where the Chatsworth Park shubbery would now be. Because they're escaped prisoners, they need a place to hide out, and they find a small farmhouse that must have been in the same area in real life, and man, I'd love to know where it was. Well anyhow, the abandoned farmhouse gives them refuge, and one heck of a good breakfast: bread and butter, bacon and eggs, and coffee. Whoever abandoned the joint left a well-stocked pantry and icebox. There's even a closet full of men's clothes that Tim and Red use to change into. Now they look like civilians, and are ready to leave their hideout.
But not so fast, fellas, because there's an intruder on the roof, a lawman who was headed for town. He jumps through a trap door in the attic, pulls a gun and says "I saw you two sneak in here, and I've been surveilin' ya ever since. I'm Marshal Bob Dinsmore and it looks like you boys are up to something suspicious. I'm taking you in." When he says that, Red decks him and he and Tim escape again, but before they leave the farmhouse, Tim has a great idea. "Why don't I wear his clothes? We'll go into town, and I'll impersonate him. They'll think I'm the new Marshal and that will provide us with cover."
It's a great idea, and it works well when Tim introduces himself as "Bob Dinsmore, US Marshal". But his fellow escapee Red can't keep from continuing his criminal ways. Tim tells him "we're in the clear, we gotta go straight" (and Tim is innocent anyway, having been framed), but Red wants to set up a payroll robbery. Tim tells him "you'll wind up right back in the pen." Meanwhile, he meets and falls in love with Lafe McKee's sweet daughter "Alice" (Dorothy Gulliver). Now he really wants the straight life, but - lo and behold - who should arrive in town but the two guys who killed his Dad, and framed him for it. Now Tim is bent on revenge, and straight life or not, he's gonna get these two mugs. Red, seeing a chance to get Tim back on his side, offers to help eliminate them, but Tim has second thoughts, and decides instead to use his cover as the Marshal to bring them to justice. During a break in the action, Alice plays the lute and sings him a romantic song. Red now figures Tim is hopelessly in love, and goes forward with the payroll robbery, enlisting his Dad's killers as assistants. In addition to the train tunnel shot, there is some incredible Santa Susana location footage from angles, and on trails, never before seen. I was disappointed when the movie ended that there was no location info available on IMDB, but once again, Tim McCoy comes through with a good one, this time with the help of the beautiful Dorothy Gulliver, and his Marshal impersonation helps him clear his name in the frame-up. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Fighting Marshal". The picture is very good. ////
That's all for this very warm Sunday night. While writing these blogs, I sometimes go with whatever's in my Youtube recommendations for music, and just now I've been listening to Amon Duul, the famous Krautrockers from the early '70s. While I don't think they're exactly my thing, they do have an interesting German-flavored take on Hippie music with some folk and progressive touches thrown in. I get a kick out of it when the singer "California-izes" his voice, and the girl singer does the full-on San Francisco psychedelia thing. They have some good songwriting though, so check them out. The album is "Carnival in Babylon". I've also been listening to a lot of Spooky Tooth, once again just because of Youtube, and a good album by them is "Tobacco Road." My late-night listening last night was Bruckner's 7th, conducted by von Karajan of course. I'm still reading Elvis. I hope you had a nice weekend and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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