One Dangerous Night

CinemaSerf

Nov 11, 2023 · via TMDB

★ 6.0

I imagine this is the kind of movie you might have gone to see in a drive-in. Made amidst WWII, it tells a rather quirky tale of "Eve" (Marguerite Chapman) whose car is totalled and she is luckily rescued by the "Lone Wolf" himself (Warren William) and his loyal sidekick "Jamison" (Eric Blore). They escort her to her home only to find that when they get there, there is a body. It's a renowned playboy and it's very, very quiet! Police inspector "Crane" (Thurston Hall) is unimpressed by the array of alibis on offer and so arrests them all - but our shrewd sleuths escape, and begin to piece things together uncovering a story of blackmail and jewel thievery with the enigmatic "Patricia" (Margaret Hayes) playing an increasingly significant and puzzling role in their investigations. Can they solve this before the police apprehend them again, and again - or, ideally, before anyone else gets bumped off? Nope, there's not the slightest hint of jeopardy here and the production is really very basic. That said, there's a bit of an entertaining dynamic between Warren and Blore and the whole thing has enough of it's tongue in it's cheek to keep it entertaining if not exactly taxing on the little grey cells. It's twenty minutes too long, and at times it regurgitates itself a bit much - but as wartime whodunits go, it's by no means the worst.