Watch Crime by Night For Free

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good concept, poorly executed.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Jerome Cowan is a private eye hired to solve a murder. There are several other murders along the way, although the only sentiment they generate among their acquaintances is disappointment, not grief. How dare he die after being attacked with an ax -- before he told us who did it? Jerome Cowan, familiar from "The Maltese Falcon" a few years earlier, has the lead this time, probably partly because of his appearance in that film. But Cowan is no Humphrey Bogart. On the other hand, the writers were no Dashiel Hammets, and the director was no John Huston. The result is a complicated, fast-paced mystery yarn with no grace notes, an extended B feature.Some of the supporting cast is good. Cy Kendall as Sheriff Amblers, determined to win re-election, is a portrait of good-natured deceit. The women have key parts but little screen time. Jane Wyman is cute. The young Eleanor Powell radiates innocence and sex appeal.But it's all pretty formulaic and if you miss it, you're not missing much.

***SPOILERS*** Confusing murder mystery involving a one handed pianist Larry Bordon who claims he's been framed in his father-in-law's murder. Larry himself was almost shot and killed as soon as the movie opened by an unknown assailant while Larry was on his rowboat. Fearful for his life Larry got in touch with famed New York private eye Sam Campbell to not only save his neck from the person or persons who are trying to murder him but from his being arrested and tried for the murder of his father-in-law Harvey Carr whom he found axed to death in his rowboat. In fact t was Mr.Carr who chopped off Larry's left hand in a fit over his strained relationship with his daughter, and Larry's wife, Irene.The movie gets even more complicated that it already is when the boathouse caretaker is found by Campbell brutally axed, but still alive, by the very same person who murdered Mr.Carr. The fact that the caretaker is still alive is very good news for Larry in if he's telling the truth the caretaker can prove that Larry's innocent by not identifying him as his attacker. That all later turns sour for Larry with the caretaker not coming out of his coma and dying. That leaves Larry on the hook in not only killing Mr.Carr but the caretaker as well. As Campbell begins to follow the trail of evidence in both Mr.Carr and the caretakers murder it becomes evident to him that the double murders were really an effort to cover up a far more sinister crime.***SPOILERS*** All that leads to both Ann Marlow and her boyfriend singer Paul Goff who are staying at a hotel not far from the crime scene who seemed to have had some kind of special dealings with the late and murdered Mr. Carr. And it was Mr.Carr's suspicions of them that in fact may well have lead to his murder. Or better yet could it have been Mr.Carr's former son-in-law Larry Bordon who had it in for Mr.Carr ever since he destroyed his career as a concert pianist! It was Campbell and his secretary Robbie "Candy-Lamb" Vance who by setting up a trap at the local horse stable who got Mr.Carr's killer to trip himself up. In him thinking that the stable owner Dad Martin, whom one of his horses was used by the killer to make his escape, had spotted him and then tried to murder Martin as well! As for the real reason behind Mr.Carr's murder it had to do with what was going on the other side of the world, Europe, at the time, 1944, and the super secret formula that Mr.Carr was working on that those who murdered him were after.

For a fifteen year period between the late 1930's and the early 1950's, Jerome Cowan played supporting roles to a number of big name stars in a variety of movies. Here he gets a chance to be the lead in this snappy little B picture, playing a detective on vacation. He was notable for playing wisecracking sidekicks, and in Crime By Night he plays a wisecracking detective. His sidekick is Jane Wyman who is actually listed as the lead here, but she plays second fiddle as Cowan's "candy lamb." Faye Emerson is on hand in a supporting role, and Eleanor Parker has a small role in one of her early films. The pace is fast with snappy dialog written by Daniel Mainwaring, who a few years later became famous for the quintessential film noir: Out Of The Past, which was based on his novel Build My Gallows High. **1/2 of 4 stars.

Jane Wyman is given top billing on screen but she sits out most of the movie off screen. It's left up to her co-star Jerome Cowan to carry the load. He has a certain oily/sleazy charm but I wouldn't like to have my life or freedom depend on his detective abilities. It was amusing to observe the way he did anything he felt appropriate to help his client. No matter the legality of it. Hiding witnesses, disturbing evidence at a crime scene, and even downright stealing evidence right from the Sheriff's office.This movie must be noted for having one of the bloodiest crime scenes in a pre-1960's film. It's a wonder the censors passed it.