One Dangerous Night

Gerald Mohr is leaving town. He calls together three women he's been blackmailing for one last payment. The lights go off, a gun fires and enter Warren William to return one of the ladies' handbag -- his valet, Eric Blore, has stolen it. He finds Mohr dead and calls the police. They assume he did it, and so the Lone Wolf escapes and heads off to find whodunnit.

William had been a big, snide, sexually predatory star at Warner Brothers, but that had been before the Production Code was enforced. He had spent the last ten years gradually heading down the list. Even though he was a fine actor, a star is a commercial concept. People pay to see a star because they know what they're getting, and they weren't making movies like that under the Code. So William continued to give fine performances, but less interest in him brought him to Columbia, where the schedule was easier and his diffident delivery was what served Harry Cohn's budgets.

It's a competent, early film for director Michael Gordon, who distinguished himself with adaption from the stage like CYRANO DE BERGERAC, but figured out how to compose for the wide-screen camera in movies like PILLOW TALK. However, as competent as everyone is, it's a movie that you can watch once and no more. At least, I can.