In order to win back his girlfriend, Mike Shayne promises to give up his detective practice and get a job as riveter in an aircraft plant. He quickly finds himself investigating the theft of industrial diamonds from the plant's safe and, utilizing a variety of false identities, traces them first to a dress factory and later to a Hawaii-bound ocean liner. Escaping several attempts on his life, he is able to uncover a Nazi smuggling ring, but the location of the missing diamonds continues to elude him.
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Detective Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) boards a Hawaii-bound ocean liner on the trail of stolen industrial diamonds and a Nazi smuggling ring.I have never heard of the Michael Shayne series, and I know by starting here I am jumping in the middle. Hopefully I didn't miss much, but the story still makes plenty of sense. And actually, it is really, really good. I get the feeling this was something of a B-picture, but today (2017) it feels more fun and fresh than some of the A-pictures of the time.It serves as an interesting blend of detective fiction and spycraft, and has the interesting distinction of being set at least partially in Hawaii. As I understand it, the film was released in 1942 but was probably filmed in 1941... thus they had no idea just how crucial Hawaii would be to the World War II story. In fact, if this was filmed prior to Pearl harbor, America was not technically even in the war yet!
All in all, this was a good series - better than average, all things considered. Plots, production values, supporting casts all top-of-the-line. Lloyd Nolan is an excellent detective hero as the charismatic Mike Shayne. Funny how Nolan acts and sounds like a New Yorker, even though he was from the West Coast. Here he is involved in a wartime espionage story involving Nazis, but they aren't as big a part of the plot as they could be a couple of years later.It's a good mystery, well written and you won't guess the murderer. But I thought it was interesting to note the bag tag on the steamer trunk that a reviewer alluded to. It says Honolulu - Dec. 6, 1941, the day before Pearl Harbor. I have to think it was just chance that this date was used, because the film was released in Jan. 1942 - but it had to have been made 6-8 months previous, so I don't think there was any intent to be sensational here (unless I misread the reviewer's comments).Anyway, this is a good, worthwhile show in a noteworthy series. But I still think the last one, "Just Off Broadway" (1945), is the best.
The Michael Shayne series was a great gig for Lloyd Nolan as he didn't get to play many leads. "Blue, White, and Perfect" from 1942 is a fun entry into the series, and for us boomers, another chance to see George Reeves without his Superman cape. The film also features Helene Reynolds and Mary Beth Hughes.In this one, Shayne takes a job as a riveter, at first to watch for sabotage, but after a robbery of industrial diamonds, to ferret out the criminal. Actually the job is a great cover as his fiancée, Merle, is pressuring him to get out of the detective business.The trail leads to Hawaii. Since this film was released in January of 1942, it looks like it was filmed before Pearl Harbor, so the placement of the story in Hawaii is interesting, plus the fact that we seem to be on the trail of not Japanese, but Nazis. In order to get money for passage on the ship, Shayne convinces Merle to make a $1000 deposit on a ranch. Clever if low! On the ship, he meets Juan Arturo O'Hara (Reeves) and an old client, Helen Shaw, who now owns a dress shop in Hawaii. It gets pretty dicey from there as someone tries to kill Shayne, by not only shooting, but drowning! Director Herbert Leeds keeps the action going at a snappy pace. Highly entertaining, with a lively performance by Nolan, and a charming one by Reeves, whose career never regained its momentum after his war service.Very good.
I'm working my way through the 4 film video package and this is the most entertaining one so far in my opinion. Not that it is a good film, but it has fewer drawbacks than the other two (Sleepers West & Michael Shayne, Private Detective.) The plot - Michael Shayne is following German agents who are stealing/smuggling industrial diamonds to Hawaii.Of course, in all these drawn out MS melodramas, it takes him half the film to get on board and on with the show. Onboard, he meets George Reeves and reacquaints himself with an attractive woman. Everyone gets good service from steward Curt Bois.As in all these MS films (so far), several scenes go on way too long with pointless dialog - presumably to fill out the storyline and running time. However, this film was less padded than the other two. Amen! Since MS and the ship are headed to Hawaii and there is a tag on the steamer trunks with a date in bold writing "Dec 6th", I thought they would be arriving the day before Pearl Harbor is bombed by the Japanese. But, no......The film was released in early 1942 so I do not know what to make of the steamer trunk date.The ending of the film has MS running off to Manila after a corpse falls out of a closet with a knife in his back and a mysterious note pinned to him. MS bids his sexy blond honey adieu and exits screen left for Manila. I dunno.......I don't expect much or try and dope out these films too much.Good to see George Reeves in an early film. Mary Beth Hughes as MS' g/f looks good. Lloyd Nolan is good in all these films, I should add. The city sets in the early part of the film are nice. I'm not sure what the title means.All in all - lightweight 'mystery' entertainment from the early 40s from a major studio.
