DRESSED TO KILL (Theatrical Release USA 1941)

Ben Meyers’ rating—3.4|5.0 Starsììì

Dressed to Kill—a murder mystery—satisfies the seasoned audience, but will fall short of expectations for the modern audience. It delivers a straight forward storyline that, in its time, would have been appreciated by the mystery fan; but becomes almost laughable by today’s standards. It performs as a B-grade movie with poor to fair acting and a script that needs a serious rewrite. It does not compare on any level to the old Charlie Chan mysteries or to the Thin Man stories.

Film Poster Courtesy of Wikipedia

Storyline

It is Detective Michael Shayne’s (Lloyd Nolan) wedding day. He meets his bride-to-be Joanne La Marr (Mary Beth Hughes) in the Hotel du Nord, hears a woman scream, goes to investigate, and finds two murders. As the detective probes deeper, he finds more dead bodies than solutions.

Additional Thanks

Thank you to Director Eugene Forde for directing efforts. Thank you to Executive Producer Sol M. Wurtzel for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: Connie Earle (Sheila Ryan), Inspector Pierson (William Demarest), Sam (Ben Carter), Lynne Evans (Virginia Brissac), Lynne Evans (Virginia Brissac), Julian Davis (Henry Daniell), Al-Police Detective (Dick Rich), and Carlo Ralph (Erwin Kalser).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Maybe. If you are hardcore murder mystery fan, this film works for a fill-in-the-time flick.

Video Critique Available Here:

Ben Meyers