''Michael Shayne, Private Detective'' is a 1940 American mystery film directed by

Eugene Forde Eugene Forde (1898–1986) was an American film director. Selected filmography * ''Daredevil's Reward'' (1928) * ''Painted Post (film), Painted Post'' (1928) * ''Son of the Golden West'' (1928) * ''Charlie Chan's Courage'' (1934) * ''Charlie Ch ...

and starring

Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies. Bi ...

Marjorie Weaver Marjorie Weaver (March 2, 1913 – October 1, 1994) was an American film actress of the 1930s through the early 1950s. Early life, entrance into acting Weaver was born in Crossville, Tennessee to John Thomas Weaver and his wife, Ellen (née Mar ...

and

Joan Valerie Joan Valerie (born Helen Vlahakis; July 15, 1911 – January 30, 1983) was an American actress, who appeared mainly in B movies in the late 1930s and 1940s. Early years Born in Sparta, Wisconsin, Valerie was the daughter of Michael Vlahakis. ...

.Backer p.106 It is based on

Brett Halliday Brett Halliday (July 31, 1904 – February 4, 1977) is the primary pen name of Davis Dresser, an American mystery and western writer. Halliday is best known for the long-lived series of Michael Shayne mysteries he wrote, and later commissioned ...

's novel '' The Private Practice of Michael Shayne''. It was the first in a series of

Michael Shayne Michael "Mike" Shayne is a fictional private detective character created during the late 1930s by writer Brett Halliday, a pseudonym of Davis Dresser. The character appeared in a series of seven films starring Lloyd Nolan for Twentieth Century Fo ...

films starring Nolan.

Synopsis

In this film, much of the main plot has already happened or happens off-camera. We see a subplot that out-of-work private detective Mike Shayne is hired by his friend, wealthy racing executive Hiram Brighton, to, while he's out of town, watch over his spirited daughter Phyllis, who gambles her money away and has begun dating underworld character Harry Grange, to the consternation of the father. The key plot involves wealthy but shady Elliott Thomas who owned a horse, Banjo Boy. The odds were 15 to 1 against that horse winning. Thomas had a run of bad luck and needed a quick infusion of cash. In south America he found a champion to switch with the same markings as, and a dead-ringer for, Banjo Boy. So as not to affect the track odds, Thomas engaged Grange as a shill to "spread around" Thomas' large bet of $10,000. The substitute horse wins, and the payoff is $150,000 (equivalent to over $2 million in 2021 purchasing power). But Grange would not pay Thomas his money, so Thomas hired another shady character, Larry Kincaid, who tries to hire Shayne to go to Shayne's friend and Grange's boss, casino owner Benny Gordon, to ask him to pressure Grange. Shayne refused, so Kincaid went straight to Grange. When Grange told Kincaid the backstory, Kincaid decided to cut himself in on the pot by blackmailing Thomas. As a result, Thomas and Kincaid brawled, Kincaid ended up dead, and Grange knew of the meeting. At that point, Thomas felt he had no choice but to do away with Grange. Shortly before Thomas kills Grange, after a meeting in Gordon's casino, Grange had been drugged, then driven to the woods, smeared with ketchup and left in the convertible by Shayne in a scheme to teach Phyllis a lesson about hanging with shady characters. The scheme backfires when they find Grange has actually been shot dead and Shayne's gun is on the ground, having been fired. Shayne has already tipped the police to "a murder in the woods" in the plan to scare Phyllis. Now sirens are heard. Shayne rushes Phillis away in her car but his car won't start and cops arrest him. In reality, Gordon's daughter Marsha, Grange's angry ex who had been jilted by Grange, happened to stumble upon the crime scene first, became distraught and rushed to her father. In order to protect her from any kind of suspicion, Gordon framed Shayne, having conveniently seen him leave the casino earlier with Grange. Eventually, Shayne correctly deduces what happened with the murder of Grange, and engineers a trap for Thomas in front of the police, at which point Thomas confesses the horse race plot, the death of Kincaid and throwing his body in the bay, and the murder of Grange, at which point the movie ends.

Cast

as Michael Shayne *

as Phyllis Brighton *

as Marsha Gordon * Walter Abel as Elliott Thomas * Elizabeth Patterson as Aunt Olivia * Donald MacBride as Chief Painter * Douglass Dumbrille as Gordon * Clarence Kolb as Hiram Brighton * George Meeker as Harry Grange * Charles Coleman as Ponsby *

Adrian Morris Adrian Grant Morris (18 May 1929 – 6 December 2004) was an England, English painter. Early life Morris was born in London, England. He spent his childhood in rural Somerset before the family moved to the United States, where he attended the ...

as Al * Robert Emmett Keane as Larry Kincaid *

Frank Orth Frank Orth (February 21, 1880 – March 17, 1962) was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series '' Boston Blackie''. Career By 1897, Ort ...

as Steve *

Irving Bacon Irving Bacon (born Irving Von Peters; September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films. Early years Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar Bacon and Myrtle Vane. He was born in St. Jose ...

as Fisherman * Jimmy Aubrey as Mac *

Don Brodie Don L. Brodie (May 29, 1904 – January 8, 2001) was an American film and television actor. Early years The son of Mrs. Lottie Brodie, he attended Hughes High School in Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati. Before becoming a profess ...

as Reporter *

Paul E. Burns Paul E. Burns (January 26, 1881 – May 17, 1967) was an American actor, who had a very lengthy career on film and television, although mostly in bit parts. He played Ebenezer Hawkins in ''Son of Paleface'' (1952), Latitude Bucket in ''The Ro ...

as Furniture Company Mover * James Conaty as Gambler * Robert Conway as Riverside Terrace Desk Clerk * Sayre Dearing as Racetrack Spectator *

Ralph Dunn Ralph Dunn (May 23, 1900 – February 19, 1968) was an American film, television, and stage actor. Early years Dunn was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania. His father was a veterinarian for the U.S. Army during World War I, and his mother ...

as First Bartender * Fern Emmett as Jenny * Bess Flowers as Racetrack Spectator * Dick French as Reporter * Harold Goodwin as Reporter * Sherry Hall as 2nd Bartender * Paul Kruger as Parking Attendant * Hamilton MacFadden as Reporter * Tony Martelli as Gambler * Major McBride as Croupier * Frank Mills as Counterman * Edmund Mortimer as Gambling Casino Patron * Field Norton as Gambler * Paddy O'Flynn as Reporter * James Pierce as Burly Man Downstairs * Dick Rich as Mover * Jack Richardson as Gambler * Cyril Ring as Reporter * Bob Rose as Freddy * S.S. Simon as Nightclub Patron * Larry Steers as Racetrack Spectator

References

Bibliography

* Backer, Ron. ''Mystery Movie Series of 1940s Hollywood''. McFarland, 2010.

External links

* * * * {{Michael Shayne 1940 films 1940 mystery films American mystery films Films directed by Eugene Forde 20th Century Fox films Films produced by Sol M. Wurtzel American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films