Nothing in this MGM B-Movie Works. The Mystery is Blown in the First Five Minutes with Some Very Bad Make-Up and the Bad Make-Up is Used for Two Other Characters Before this Really Bad Movie Concludes.The Acting is Atrocious by All Except the Dog and Even He Cannot Match His Prototype from The Thin Man Series. Everything Here is Overcooked and Insufferable. The Characters are Stereotypical to the Extreme and the Film, Shot on the Back-Lot, Looks Confined, Stagy, and Hardly Atmospheric.George Murphy is a Hammy Bore, the Bar-Maid Will Have You Rolling Your Eyes or Running Out of the Room, and the Usually Reliable George Zucco and Leo G. Carroll are Trying Hard to Make Things Interesting but to No Avail. It's Perhaps One of the Worst Movies Ever Made with the MGM Logo.

Here is a film that brought waves of nostalgia to an old movie buff who usually never forgets a film but often cannot remember the titles of something I have not seen in 50 years. I viewed it by chance on TCM and as soon as I saw the Umbrella Man I knew it was an old favorite from childhood. I am constantly drawn to any film about London and this was no exception. It contains much of the usual elements of period London, the constant fog, Big Ben, elegant town house, eerie Thames River, bumbling police, pub, two lovely ladies and a semi-comical newspaper man protagonist. However it was the bone-chilling Umbrella Man that made the indelible imprint on my young mind years ago. Now the film seems silly and outdated and not the least bit scary, oh but what fun to see again. The film contained credible performances with a somewhat predictable plot. With a little bit of rewriting and a skilled director I think this film would be a great candidate for a serious remake.

It is all too obvious after the first five minutes who the master criminal, "The Umbrella Man" is. Nevertheless, it is a charming, lighthearted mystery with some very good performances.George Murphy (long before he became a U.S. senator from California,) plays the lead part, Michael Denis, with a great deal of charm and a large dose of tongue-in-cheek. Truth be told, our late U.S. senator was quite a handsome man.A small side note: back in 1964 I worked at General Service Studios in Hollywood as a messenger. Among other shows that were filmed there was "The Beverly Hillbillies" starring Buddy Ebsen. Ebsen and Murphy were good friends. After Murphy won his U.S. senate seat, he visited Ebsen in his dressing room. There was some talk that Ebsen (who to me, at my lofty age of 18, seemed to be an insufferable snob) might run for office himself.I had bicycled up to Ebsen's dressing room to deliver some mail. I misjudged the distance between the curb and the dressing room. I hit the curb straight on, knocking all the mail out of my basket. Just as I was maneuvering that very graceful slam, Sen. Murphy came walking out of the dressing room. I was a bit surprised to see that he was about my height. I was, and still am, at 5'9", far from a giant* "What seems to be the trouble, son?" asked the affable Murphy. "I dropped my mail, senator," I managed to mumble and stumble out. "Here, let me help you," said Murphy, whereby this dignified, handsome, and immaculately dressed United States senator got down on his hands and knees, and helped me shuffle the mail back into my basket.I have been a life-long Democrat, but if I had been old enough to vote for Republican George Murphy, I certainly would have.What a guy!*other "cutesie" names (which I learned to despise) were, "squirt," "pipsqueak," "shorty," (which the school bully always called me) and my all time favorite, "shrimp boats."By way of explanation of that last one, there was a very popular song being sung at that time called "Shrimp Boats are A-comin'"

There's not much to this. A reporter is detained from a trip to Paris due to a series of murders he initially has not interest in. He gets hooked up with a rich girl who likes adventure and this almost gets her killed. The murderer runs around with an umbrella which identifies him but also keeps him from being apprehended (it is foggy, after all, and everyone seems to have the same umbrella). There are some pretty good performances by Leo G. Carroll and George Zucco. George Murphy pulls things off pretty well, but the whole plot is too transparent. There is also an interesting romantic development between the two leads. The ending leaves a bit to be desired, but it does have some plausibility. Nevertheless, the film is interesting, atmospheric in places, but pretty unremarkable.