Displaying items by tag: Larceny in Her Heart movie

LARCENY IN HER HEART

US, 1946, 68 minutes, Black-and-white.

Hugh Beaumont, Cheryl Walker, Ralph Dunn, Paul Bryar, Douglas Fowlie, Gordon Richards.

Directed by Sam Newfield.

The second in a series of private detective stories, featuring Hugh Beaumont as Michael Shayne. There are several sequels. Hugh Beaumont had a number of short feature roles in the 1940s, his private detective but audiences also seeing him as both charming and psychopathic in the brief film noir, Money Madness. But, he was famous for the long-running series, Leave it to Beaver as the father of the family.

This film is both serious investigation as well as often being played for laughs. It is like a short story with the action taking place over two nights.

About to go on holiday, Shayne and the secretary are approached by wealthy man to take on a case to find his missing stepdaughter. Then, a young woman, drunk, comes into his office. Shayne is friendly with the police as well as a journalist, played by Paul Bryar. And there is the detective out to get him, played by Ralph Dunn. These two characters appear in several of the episodes.

There is the case of the dead body, its being removed, reappearing, disposed of in the garden of the wealthy man, found in the bay, identified in the morgue. Plenty of complications – and, finally, Shayne getting himself committed to a centre for alcoholics and his discovery of the truth. Some serious investigations, quite a lot of shenanigans and touches of comedy – and a rather more complex solution than the audience might have anticipated.