Starring: Russell Arms, Art Baker, William Bendix, Barbara Britton, Paul E. Burns Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC Label: Geneon [Pioneer] Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: November 22, 2005 Running Time: 80 minutes Theatrical Release Date: February 25, 1949
Great Fun A great boy meets girl, WHODUNIT, with a nice twist on a twist ending. William Bendix is at his understated best. If you are a fan of Film Noir.......add this to your collection! The Big E.
A Tight Little Story It's Hitchcock like in it's presentation that admits you into a very short segment of our hero's life, but one momentous enough to change his life forever. I also like being fooled by the story teller into reaching for the wrong conclusions before all is finally made known to me. A good yarn, as Mark Twain might say. William Bendix does a great job of sustaining the suspense throughout the film.
My Kind of movie!!! I really enjoyed this flick. Had me guessing all the way. This film is very enjoyable...with just enough suspense and twists to keep you enthralled, while giving you a wonderful picture of 1940 small town America...complete with old homes, good manners and old fashioned Christmas tress. If you love good old movies that you can really enjoy and that leave you with a good feeling when they're through...buy this movie and you won't be sorry?
Not Film Noir You may be disappointed with this film if you are expecting classic American film noir. It's more of a 1940s version of Matlock or Murder, She Wrote. As others have pointed ot, the cover has nothing to do with this film. The cover scene leads one to believe it's film noir (the title certainly suggests the genre) and my guess is that it was done on purpose to mislead for sales purposes. Considering the cost, I felt that I had my money's worth. The picture is clear (though not a restored print) and the film itself is entertaining. William Bendix is never bad performance wise. To me, he's one of the most likeable character actors the American cinema ever produced. If you see this film, I'm sure you'll be entertained. If you don't see it, you'll not have missed anything in my view.
A Sweet-Natured, Friendly Murder Mystery In A Small Town Can a murder mystery be sweet-natured? Yes, when it's Cover-Up, a well-crafted B movie programer put together by experienced pros.
Insurance investigator Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe, who co-wrote the script) arrives in a small town a few days before Christmas to look into the apparent suicide of an intensely disliked resident. The man has left a $20,000 insurance policy with a double indemnity clause. Sam points out to Sheriff Larry Best (William Bendix) that if murder happened the policy will pay $40,000. The sheriff is friendly but unhelpful. "Look, Sam," he says, "take my advice. Don't be so all fired anxious to pay double indemnity on this case. Why don't you forget about it? Go on home."
The sheriff says it was suicide, but there was no gun by the corpse, no powder burns and, at first, he denies a bullet was even found. Sam starts poking around, but everyone says it had to be suicide even though any number of the townspeople had motive. The dead man, the sheriff says, "was a blight on the whole community." Sam meets Anita Weatherby (Barbara Britton), the daughter of the town's banker. They start to get serious, but she wants him to stop looking, especially when her father might be involved. Sam, however, doesn't like murder and keeps pushing the case. He finally sets a clever trap, figures out the identity of the murderer...and has to make a tough decision. Let's just say the movie takes place over Christmas and Sam makes the right decision.
This is a well-crafted look at a friendly small town. Main Street has two-story brick shops with the bus depot on the corner. The houses have wide porches and picket fences in front. People don't lock their front doors. The big event will soon be the lighting of the community Christmas tree in the town square, with everyone bundled up in scarves and coats and there'll be presents for all the kids. Don't fool yourself, though. There are plenty of suspects.
The actors, especially William Bendix and Dennis O'Keefe, do fine jobs. Bendix gives Sheriff Best just enough complexity that you're never sure what his game is, or whether he's just being friendly or something more sinister. O'Keefe plays the big city investigator with a nice mixture of toughness and puzzlement. He wants to catch the murderer, but he's come to like many of the people, including the banker's daughter, and he's increasingly reluctant to hurt anyone. Dora Merande, one of Hollywood's great character actresses, does a memorable job as the Weatherby's astringent but caring maid.
And as to that last decision Sam must make when he's discovered the murderer? He has to take a moment or two to think about things. "Like the sheriff is so fond of saying," he finally tells those with him in the murderer's living room, "I'm not much of a detective."
To avoid confusion, remember that the photo on the DVD cover has no connection to the movie. For some reason, someone pulled a scene from a completely different film to use. The DVD is bare bones. While there are chapter stops, there is no menu and no extras. The picture and audio are better than I would have expected. The movie is easy to watch if you're not a perfectionist.
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