Displaying items by tag: Marsha Hunt

JIGSAW

US, 1949, 74 minutes, Black-and-white.

Franchot Tone, Jean Wallace, Myron McCormick, Marc Lawrence, Winifred Lenihan, Doe Avedon.

Directed by Fletcher Markle.

Jigsaw, a popular name for many films from the US, UK, Australia, and for the Saw franchise.

This is a legal thriller with overtones of film noir from 1949, Franchot Tone playing with his wife, Jean Wallace (and they divorced that year).

The setting is a subversive group and social unrest, the Crusaders, from the poster something of a racist and supremacist group. The man who printed their leaflets is murdered, his wife frightenend. The assistant district attorney, Tone, is interested, spurred on by his journalist friend who, in turn, is killed.

There are various clues, leading to philanthropist, gangster, Angel, Marc Lawrence who works for a higher authority. Also involved is a singer at a nightclub, The Blue Angel (and a glimpse of Marlene Dietrich leaving, memories of her 1929 film, and the film includes a number of star cameo appearances, noting Burgess Meredith, John Garfield, this reviewer missing Henry Fonda as a waiter.)

The singer, Jean Wallace, who  becomes something of a femme fatale as the assistant DA seems to have an affair with her to gain information. In the meantime, there is the district attorney, a society woman with power, the assistant DA being promoted through connections to a special prosecutor.

There killings, fights, the involvement of artists, potential blackmail, the revelation of the power behind the scenes, and a climax in an Art Gallery.

Not fully a film noir, rather a legal detection thriller.

ELLERY QUEEN, MASTER DETECTIVE

US, 1940, 69 minutes, Black-and-white.

Ralph Bellamy, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, James Burke, Michael Whalen, Marsha Hunt, Fred Niblo, Charles Lane, Anne Shoemaker.

Directed by Kurt Neumann.

The first of seven films, 1940-1942, supporting features at Columbia Studios, featuring stories by Ellery Queen and featuring the writer and his detection. Ralph Bellamy appeared in four of these to be followed by William Gargan for three. But, Margaret Lindsay was present in all seven as Nikki Porter, eventually Ellery Queen’s secretary, Charley Grapewin as Inspector Queen, Ellery’s father, and James Burke as his assistant, providing a lot of the comedy and even some slapstick.

Each film involved a murder, or more, the police investigation, Elleru either called in or joining in, and Nikki Porter becoming involved. In fact, in this film, she had not met Ellery Queen but has been writing novels, rejected considered not in the league of the Queen stories (though she has all his books). The basic situation is that a celebrity body builder/health expert (played by veteran director, Fred Niblo, who directed the 1925 Ben Hur) is found dead. The doctor assisting him is a with his daughter. He is also concerned that the health expert is dying of cancer, experts called in, examination of x-rays – and then the man is dead.

The doctor and his fiancee are very friendly with Nikki Porter and go to her for help. She goes to investigate at the family home but is detained after finding the body and she becomes a suspect. And, with Inspector Queen involved, that is how she meets Ellery Queen who decides to help her, taking her home, some complications with his father and meals so that he has to set her up as the cook! Soup put of vans and burning the steaks and pouring water over to quench the fire!

Many complications, suspicions about the health expert’s associates and their previous work, but, they are not the murderers and, as always, it is someone that we had not suspected.

At the end, Ellery hires Nikki Porter as his secretary… And the series goes on.