Michael Shayne: Private Detective (1940)

"I'll bet if you walk in your sleep, you need a bicycle.", 3 January 2009

Lloyd Nolan is Michael Shayne, a private eye hired to keep an eye on a young woman with a penchant for gambling. Shayne intends to save her from herself but ends up as the prime suspect of a murder. Shayne will have to act fast and untangle a web of gambling, drugged horses, a jilted lover, an overly zealous mystery fan, and a dead body if he's to stay out of the County Jail.

I had never heard much about the Michael Shayne movies before I found a set of four on DVD. Being a fan of 1940s era mystery/thrillers, I decided to give them a chance. And the ridiculously low price didn't hurt matters any. I was hoping for something along the lines of Charlie Chan or The Thin Man. While I didn't enjoy this, the first in the series, as much as the better known movies I mentioned, Michael Shayne: Private Detective is a decent enough watch and worth the 77 minutes I put into it Lloyd Nolan gives a solid, albeit unspectacular, performance. The problem – while Nolan is a good actor, he is not what I would call a leading man. Nolan is joined by a capable cast that includes Douglass Dumbrille, Elizabeth Patterson, and Donald MacBride (who seemed to make a career out of playing the beleaguered, put-upon police inspector). Much of the movie has a feeling or atmosphere about it that many of the "light" detective movies of the period had that I find appealing. This feeling was almost undone, however, by a plot that seemed a little overly complicated for a throwaway B-movie. Maybe I was just too tired when I watched, but I found it difficult to follow – not that any of it was that interesting to begin with. So in the end, while I've given Michael Shayne: Private Detective a 6/10, I can't say I'm not a bit disappointed. Here's hoping the next three in the series are even more entertaining.

6/10