''The Solitaire Man'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Jack Conway and starring

Herbert Marshall Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall (23 May 1890 – 22 January 1966) was an English stage, screen and radio actor who starred in many popular and well-regarded Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. After a successful theatrical career in the Uni ...

and

Mary Boland Mary Boland (born Marie Anne Boland; January 28, 1882 – June 23, 1965) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Boland was the daughter of repertory actor William Augustus Boland, and his wife M ...

Plot summary

After a job in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, an English jewel theft ring returns to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. Suave cat burglar Oliver Lane (

), fashioned the "Solitaire Man" in the newspapers after seven years of eluding

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

, proposes marriage to his lovely accomplice Helen (

Elizabeth Allan Elizabeth Allan (9 April 1910 – 27 July 1990) was an English stage and film actress who worked in both Britain and Hollywood, where she appeared in 50 films. Life and career Allan was born in Skegness, Lincolnshire in 1910 and educated in D ...

) and informs her he has bought a country house in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

shire to which they can all retire. However, unstable Robert Bascom (

Ralph Forbes Ralph Forbes (born Ralph Forbes Taylor; 30 September 1904 – 31 March 1951) was an English film and stage actor active in Britain and the United States. Early life Forbes was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of Ernest John "E.J." and Eth ...

), drug-addicted after his experiences in the Great War, also loves Helen and wants to continue on his own. He presents Oliver with the "Brewster necklace" that he burgled from the British Embassy while he dined there with his former colonel. Realizing Bascom would be the only suspect and his arrest would lead back to all of them, Oliver returns the Brewster necklace to the safe just as an inspector from Scotland Yard tracking the Solitaire Man arrives at the embassy. Before Oliver can make his escape, a second man sneaks in and steals the necklace but is interrupted by the inspector, who recognizes the thief but is shot and killed by him. Oliver struggles in the dark with the killer during his getaway and grabs the necklace and part of the killer's watch chain. With Bascom, Helen and the elderly Mrs. Vail (

May Robson Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born American-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19t ...

), the fourth member of the ring who poses as an impoverished British aristocrat in order to sell the stolen jewels to gullible American tourists, Oliver hastily decides to fly to England. They are joined on the airplane by a garrulous, wealthy American socialite, Mrs. Hopkins (

), and a last moment arrival in the form of an unknown Englishman (

Lionel Atwill Lionel Alfred William Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the U.S., he subsequently appeared in various Broadway plays and Hollywood f ...

). As the airplane is taking off, Mrs. Hopkins demands that the pilot stop to pick up her late-arriving husband Elmer. Although Oliver's group is willing to oblige her, the other man insists that they continue, and the pilots refuse because of a heavy fog. The stranger identifies himself as Inspector Wallace of Scotland Yard and attempts to arrest Oliver for being the Solitaire Man. When he demands at gunpoint to search Oliver's luggage for the Brewster necklace, the group disarms Wallace, revealing their complicity, and Oliver tells Bascom to lock Wallace in his own handcuffs. The passengers become aware that another plane is following them, which Wallace claims is a French Army plane he arranged as an escort in case they tried to land in France. Convinced that Wallace is what he claims to be, Oliver offers to give himself up and turn over the necklace in exchange for the freedom of the others. When Wallace is distracted by the offer, Oliver turns off the plane's cabin lights to throw off the pursuing French plane in the fog. Noticing that Wallace is not really handcuffed, Oliver asks him about how he knew Oliver would be on the flight and accuses Bascom of tipping off the police. Bascom admits that he intended to betray Oliver in his anger over Helen but denies carrying out the scheme. Oliver, however, realizes that Bascom and Wallace, who now claims to be a fast-thinking burglar himself, were in league to turn in Oliver to collect a £10,000 reward for the Solitaire Man. He searches Wallace and finds the letter Bascom wrote telling the police about Oliver's travel plans. Overwhelmed by guilt, Bascom jumps from the plane to his death. From the Scotland yard-issue pistol Wallace was carrying, Oliver deduces that not only is Wallace a crook, but he covers up his own crimes by being a police informant. Helen notices that Wallace's pocket watch has a broken chain, and Oliver accuses Wallace of being the murderer of the dead inspector. Oliver again turns out the cabin lights and appears to have also jumped from the plane with the necklace, but when the lights are turned back on, he emerges from the cockpit. He agrees to give Wallace the Brewster necklace and confess falsely to the murder, returning the gun unloaded as part of the charade, if Wallace tells Scotland Yard that the others had no part in any of the crimes. The plane lands in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

and is boarded unexpectedly by police constables to detain the passengers for Scotland Yard. The "French Army escort" lands immediately behind them and turns out to be only a plane hired by Mrs. Hopkins' husband Elmer to bring him to England after he missed the flight. When Wallace identifies himself as "Inspector Wallace" to the officers and tries to leave to "file his report," Oliver insists that it is he who is the inspector and Wallace the Solitaire Man to prevent it. The passengers are interrogated by Inspector Harris, who knows Wallace (acidly reminding the informant that he is not a detective) and is the former partner of the murdered inspector. Oliver tricks Wallace into exposing himself as the jewel thief and the murderer. Wallace tries to escape out a window using the gun but is shot by Harris, who does not realize the gun is empty. Oliver then reveals that when he went to the cockpit, he used the plane's radio to summon Scotland Yard to detain the arrivals. Harris accepts Mrs. Hopkins' corroboration of Oliver's explanation that he is only a legitimate jewelry dealer who offered to appraise the necklace when Wallace had tried to sell it to her on the plane. Oliver and Helen head off to start new lives as a quiet, happily married Devonshire couple.

Cast

as Oliver *

as Mrs. Hopkins *

as Wallace *

as Mrs. Vail *

as Helen *

as Bascom *

Lucille Gleason Lucile Gleason ( Webster; February 6, 1888 – May 18, 1947) was an American stage and screen actress. Gleason was also a civic worker who was active in film colony projects. Early life Lucile Webster was born on February 6, 1888, in Pasade ...

as Mrs. Peabody * Robert McWade as Mr. Peabody ;Unbilled * Harry Holman as Mrs. Hopkins' husband, Elmer * Andre Cheron as French creditor *

Leyland Hodgson Leyland Hodgson (5 October 1892 – 16 March 1949), also known as Leland Hodgson, was an English-born American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in London on 5 October 1892, Hodgson entered the theater in 1898. In his early 20s, Ho ...

as Whittaker, the co-pilot *

Jean De Briac Jean De Briac (born Jean-Frederic Weitler, 15 August 1891 – 18 October 1970) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1920 and 1962. He was born in France and died in Los Angeles, California. He immigrated to the ...

as Henri, the headwaiter * Emile Chautard as French hotel clerk *

Frank Puglia Francesco Giuseppe "Frank" Puglia (9 March 1892 – 25 October 1975) was an Italian-American film actor. He had small, but memorable roles in films including ''Casablanca'' (a Moroccan rug merchant), ''Now, Voyager'' and ''The Jungle Book''. ...

as waiter *

Jameson Thomas Jameson Thomas (born Thomas Roland Jameson; 24 March 1888 – 10 January 1939) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1939. He was born in St George Hanover Square, London. On the stage from his earl ...

as Inspector Kenyon *

Murray Kinnell Murray Kinnell (24 July 1889 – 11 August 1954) was a British-born American actor, recognized for playing smooth, gentlemanly, although rather shady characters. He appeared in 71 films in the USA between the pre-code era of 1930 and 1937. He wa ...

as Inspector Harris * Lawrence Grant as Sir Charles Brewster, the British Ambassador

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solitaire Man 1933 films American black-and-white films American mystery drama films 1933 drama films Films set in London Films set in Paris Films directed by Jack Conway 1930s mystery drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films