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Thursday, October 12, 2017

WHILE NEW YORK SLEEPS (1938)

With the recent death of CHARLIE CHAN’s Warner Oland (replaced by Sidney Toler) and the Peter Lorre MR. MOTO series facing demise over Japanese war rumblings (and Lorre wanting out), 20th/Fox B-pic production head Sol Wurtzer was hurting for a new series.*  But this try, the second of three NYC crime-reporter yarns featuring newsman Michael Whalen & sidekick photog Chick Chandler (The Roving Reporters) just doesn’t click. Faceless direction from H. Bruce Humberstone can’t clarify a silly plot (practical joking nightclub owner is killed for real soon after one of his dancers plugs him with a blank), but races along so we don’t much notice. The real problem is Whalen. As a character he’s an unmitigated jerk (we’re meant to find him breezy & spontaneous); physically he’s saddled with one of the worst caterpillar mustaches in the biz. Ick! While everybody else tries covering things up with ladles of forced, hearty laughter, like gravy on a Blue Plate Special. Order something else. Currently out on a subfusc DVD from ALPHA.

LINK: As taster, a rival Public Domain print (pretty lousy) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeWjBI7ez9k

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Wurtzel soon came up with the slightly better MICHAEL SHAYNE series (seven films/’40-‘42) for Lloyd Nolan as a lighthearted Private Dick (see below). They improve as they go along, cutting back on the lame comic tone.

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