Herbert I. Leeds Movies

RKO's Bunco Squad stars Robert Sterling as Sgt. Steve Johnson, a big-city detective dedicated to tracking down con artists. His current target is a gang of slicksters who are running a successful seance racket. Wealthy Jessica Royce (Elizabeth Risdon) is on the verge of bequeathing her fortune to the crooks, in exchange for communications from her deceased son. Posing as a couple of "marks," Johnson and girlfriend Grace Bradshaw (Joan Dixon) turn the tables on con-man Anthony Wells (Ricardo Cortez) and his confreres. On hand to reveal some of the techniques used by bunco artists is Dante the Magician, aka Harry A. Janssen, making the second of his two screen appearances (the first was in Laurel & Hardy's A-Haunting We Will Go). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This comedy focuses on a nuclear scientist who believes that his dead brother has been reincarnated as a dog. ~ All Movie Guide

Like most of 20th Century-Fox's "Michael Shayne"detective series, Time to Kill was based on a source other than Brett Halliday's Shayne stories. In this case, the inspiration was The High Window, a "Philip Marlowe" mystery novel by Raymond Chandler. Substituting for Marlowe, of course, is flippant private eye Mike Shayne, again played by Lloyd Nolan. Hired by wealthy Mrs. Murdock (Ethel Gryffies) to retrieve a stolen rare coin, Shayne runs up against a clever gang of counterfeiters. The film's highlight (and ultimate plot resolution) is a murder in a high-rise building, covertly captured on movie film with a telephoto lens. The final entry in Fox's "Shayne" series, Time to Kill was remade in 1947 as The Brasher Doubloon, with George Montgomery as Philip Marlowe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

20th Century-Fox's The Man Who Wouldn't Die is based on No Coffin for the Corpse, a "Merlini the Great" mystery penned by Clayton Rawson. Alas, magician-sleuth Merlini has been reduced to an expository bit role, and the property has been converted into a "Michael Shayne" series entry. In the first scene, three men-industrialist Dudley Wolff (Paul Harvey), Wolff's secretary Dunning (Robert Emmet Keane) and research scientist Dr. Haggard (Henry Wilcoxon)-are shown disposing of a corpse in the dead of night. Shortly afterward, Wolff's daughter Catherine (Marjorie Weaver) shows up unexpectedly, with news of her recent marriage. Wolff and his confreres manage to keep their body-burying activities a secret from Catherine, but later that night her bedroom is invaded by a gun-wielding stranger-who happens to be the "body" buried in Scene One! Deducing that something is amiss, Catherine summons her old friend, detective Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan), to come to the Wolff mansion to investigate. So that Mike can move about without arousing suspicion, Catherine pretends that he's her new husband-which, of course, inevitably leads to chaos and confusion when the real hubby (Richard Derr) shows up. Before this happens, however, another murder takes place, apparently committed by that very active corpse, and it is this plus several randomly placed clues which prompts Mike to consult his magician pal Radini for advice. The suspect list includes Wolff's young wife Anne (Helene Reynolds) and Phillips the butler (Billy Bevan), while the "official" authorities are represented by bucolic Chief Meek (Olin Howlin) and dour coroner Larsen (Jeff Corey). More interesting for its supporting cast than its story, The Man Who Wouldn't Die is one of the lesser Michael Shayne mysteries, with Shayne seeming to be arbitrarily inserted in the proceedings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Cisco Kid rides again, this time in the person of Cesar Romero. Cisco and Pancho (Chris-Pin Martin) come to the aid of proud but ageing cattle king Pedro de Cordoba. Posing as deCordoba's nephew, our hero snoops around in search of those who'd do the old man dirt. The villain turns out to be a close relative of hitherto spotless reputation. We won't reveal the ending of Romance of the Rio Grande, though we'll plant a few hints by noting that the cast includes Patricia Morison, Ricardo Cortez, Trevor Bardette and Tom London. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The high batting average of 20th Century-Fox's Michael Shayne detective series remained intact with Blue, White and Perfect. Having prevented his sweetheart Merle Garland (Mary Beth Hughes) from marrying a bigamous fortune-hunter (Ivan Lebedeff), Mike Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) offers to marry the girl himself (at long last!) Merle agrees, but only if Mike gets out of the private-eye racket and takes an honest job. Shayne manages to land a job at an aircraft factory, only to discover that he's been hired to protect the company's valuable supply of industrial diamonds. When the gems are stolen during a highly suspicious break-in, Mike follows the trail of clues to a fancy dress shop managed by one Mr. Hagermann (Henry Victor). Sending his fiancee off on a wild goose chase, Mike trails Hagermann to a Honolulu-bound ocean liner, where he renews an acquaintance with former lady friend Helen Shaw (Helene Reynolds) and is introduced to overly effusive young playboy Juan Arturo O'Hara (George Reeves). Detective-movie logic dictates that at least one of these characters is inextricably linked with the elusive Hagermann-who is no mere diamond thief but a very clever German spy. All sorts of serial-like thrills await Shayne before he manages to uncover the "Mister Big" behind the stolen diamond racket (and it's a real surprise to boot!) Like most of Fox's Michael Shayne series entries, Blue White and Perfect was based not on a "Shayne" novel by Bret Halliday, but on a whodunit originally written for another fictional sleuth: In this instance, the source was a novel by Borden Chase. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Lorre stars as the famous Asian detective Mr. Moto in this remake of Murder in Trinidad, in which Moto is asked to help the United States government crack a smuggling ring bringing in stolen diamonds from Puerto Rico. Moto's deductive powers quickly prove impressive as he matches wits with the slow-minded gangster "Twister" McGurk (Warren B. Hymer). This was Lorre's seventh film as Mr. Moto; he would make one more before the series was retired at the end of 1939. Originally shown as Mr. Moto on Danger Island. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this episode of the popular detective series, Chan attends a WW I reunion in Paris. While catching up with his buddies, he gets entangled in the investigation of the murder of a munitions maker who sent arms to the other side. The film was created in response to the Munich crisis of 1938. At the film's end Charlie delivers a stern warning about bargaining at conference tables. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this episode of the popular western series, Cisco stops a claim-jumping killer from the mine. He then makes sure the mine's rightful heir, an orphaned infant is cared for by the local school marm. Cisco has a brief tryst with her, but she loves another. Cisco soon finds a different love, a dance-hall girl. She saves him from being caught. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a woman is betrothed to a district attorney. When a man is falsely convicted of murder and condemned to death, the woman postpones her wedding to prove him innocent. She enlists the help of a former gangster and eventually succeeds in saving the innocent man's life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The financial exploitation of Canada's Dionne Quintuplets rolled ever forward with 20th Century-Fox's Five of a Kind, the third Dionne feature-length vehicle. Under the watchful eye of kindly obstetrican Dr. Dafoe (Jean Hersholt), the lovable quints, now 4 1/2 years old, play with their pets and toys, and even sing and dance. Meanwhile, reporter Christine Nelson (Claire Trevor) and radio commentator Duke Lester (Cesar Romero) battle over the exclusive rights to the Dionne girls' life story. The story ends with an experimental television broadcast, a rarity for a 1938 film. Knowing what we know now about the Dionne Quintuplets' far from happy home lives and difficult transitions to adulthood, it is hard to watch Five of a Kind objectively today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy a young girl dreams of becoming a Hollywood movie star. The plucky gal decides to grab the bull's horns one day and goes there to see if her uncle, a movie director will help her launch her career. Unfortunately she discovers that her "famous' relative has fallen onto hard-times and consoles himself with copious amounts of booze. Without hesitation the vivacious girl decides to kill two birds with a single stone and haver her uncle make his comeback in a movie staring herself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide