Jerome Cowan stars as a detective named D.L. Trees who is hired by a politician named John Rhodes (Gene Lockhart) to find out who is blackmailing him just before an election.
The case leads him to many suspects including a murdered gangster and his knocked out sidekick named Ray Hickey (John Harmon). Soon the police are involved and both Hickey and Tress are questioned by Detective Cramer (Wade Boteler). As the case gets more difficult, Trees finds himself up against more than he bargained for.
This is a finely crafted little film that runs a mere 55 minutes and moves at lightning speed. Cowan was a character actor who finally got to star in a film like this because WW2 had taken it's toll on most Hollywood leading men and most of them were off serving this country.
The dialogue is snappy and well done, and it almost seems like a remake of "The Maltese Falcon" but with much less money. John Harmon is always a welcome actor in movies, at least as far as I am concerned. He made a huge impact on many of us with his role as the lighthouse keeper in the 1959 shocker "Monster of Piedras Blancas".
The is included on the Warner Archives set entitled "Horror/Mystery" which contains six films from the 30's and 40's and of the same ilk. It's a great set with excellent film print quality and it is a must for every mystery fan.
The rest of the cast for this film includes Majorie Hoshelle, Robert Kent, Lou Lubin and beautiful Faye Emerson. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
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