The Hidden Eye (1945)

Not among my favorites, 30 April 2020

After several members of Jean Hampton’s family are murdered, the police begin to suspect her fiancé.  Jean decides to hire a private detective to help find the real killer.  Captain Duncan Maclain comes onto the case.  Being blind, Maclain is a rather unique detective who brings his own methods and skills to the case.  And, as one of the few clues is a distinct perfume left behind at each crime scene, being blind may prove an advantage.  But can he uncover the killer before anyone else is murdered?

Unlike a lot of the older films I’ve watched lately, I’m not really a fan of The Hidden Eye.  My first issue with the film is the way Edward Albert played Maclain.  It just never feels right.  I didn’t care for him as a character.  His deep, hearty laughing response to most every situation really put me off.  He solves a case – laughter.  He uncovers a clue – laughter.  He wrestles a baddie – laughter.  His dog is kidnapped – laughter.  It was so bizarre and I didn’t care for it.  My second issue was how easily the mystery was solved.  One of the biggest clues is a phone number that Maclain overhears being dialed.  How fortunate that of all the phone numbers the bad guy could have called, he dials one that Maclain already knows.  So by happenstance, Maclain comes up with the murderer’s identity.  This also didn’t work for me.

The real highlight and the thing I will remember most about watching The Hidden Eye was seeing Audrey Totter in an all too brief, uncredited performance as a perfume saleslady.   Her 45 seconds of screen time was so amazing that I had to stop the movie to look her up on IMDb. 

4/10