An Announcement and Special Investigator (1937)

Before we get into the review i'd like to make an announcement for a semi-regular feature that'll turn up on Sundays where I just talk about movie stuff (mostly the old time stuff) as it'll give a glimpse into my perspective on cinema history and whatnot. Another event that'll happen pretty soon is a week where i'll be reviewing recent films rather than the stuff from the vaults. Hopefully that'll be a good change up.

Anywho off to the review!

Special Investigator (1937)


Plot Summary

Bill Fenwick, (Richard Dix) criminal lawyer, is becoming a mouthpiece for mobsters, when his brother George, a Justice Department investigator, is killed by mob chief Edward Selton. (J. Carroll Naish) In atonement, Bill leaves his practice and his venal girlfriend and goes undercover in Nevada to investigate a scheme for "laundering" stolen gold bullion. He starts making progress when he pursues attractive Virginia, (Margaret Callahan) who's somehow involved with the gang; in fact, unknown to Bill, she's Selton's sister.

This is one of those crime/gangster B Films that the studios (usually the smaller ones) used to crank out in the '30s. These would usually be the type of films that Paramount or WB would make so it's a little unusual to see one in that genre by RKO. This is a fast moving 1 hour flick that doesn't have any real slow spots at all. Richard Dix was one of the big stars at RKO in the '30s and early '40s and he'd show some versatility as he starred in westerns, potboilers, mystery films and programmers like this flick. Dix was so well rounded that early in his career in 1931 he was nominated for best actor in the original version of Cimarron.

The other actor of note is one of my very favorite character actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood in J. Carroll Naish. Now granted, a lot of his portrayals would be viewed as maybe being political incorrect as he played a lot of ethnic roles (mostly Italians or Europeans in a broad stereotypical fashion) despite that, he never played his roles in an undignified way and was quite effective. Unfortunately, in this movie he has very little to do,.

This isn't anything groundbreaking but it has a charm all it's own from the two bumpkins in the town Fenwick goes undercover in one of whom reminded me a lot of Gabby Hayes in his good hearted irascibility and the local lawyer who tries to puff himself as being a judge. Naish's gang all have strong personalities including Jimmy Plummer (Joe Sawyer) the 2nd in command who wants to usurp power for himself and doesn't want ANYONE getting close to the ranch where the laundering is going on.

The love story angle is actually quite downplayed in favor of advancing the plot as Dix and Callahan go from a chilly relationship to one where Callahan is definitely into Dix and he's totally into her. Unlike most movies of the period the falling in love is a lot more bearable as it seems more of a cat and mouse flirting deal especially in the scene early on at the casino where Dix talks about having luck with black 22 on the roulette table. It's definitely not something that bogs the movie down and Dix is ingenious in how he finagles himself into checking out what's going on at the ranch.

It's not a bad little flick and definitely not a waste of time. Programmers like this rarely if ever go above the baseline ** stars but they can DEFINITELY go well below. This one is a perfect example of how a programmer should be as it doesn't wear out its welcome.