weezeralfalfa A blend of murder mystery and humor, taking place nearly all within a creepy apartment complex, where most of the residents are up tight about something, and scary things tend to happen. My review title comes from another horror-comedy, released the year before, featuring the East Side Boys......Brian Aherne's character is a well established writer of murder mysteries, who, ironically, will soon be caught up in trying to solve a real murder mystery, which apparently took place in their apartment while they were out.....They should have expected trouble, moving into #13 Gay Street, Greenwich Village. They came some days before expected, thus the electricity in their apt. wasn't yet turned on. As they arrived in the dark, they needed candles to light their way, making the scene more scary. Several times a sizable terrapin , crawling on the floor, is the culprit, in a running gag. Another recurring gag has Aherne having great trouble opening a door, which others have no problem with. Each of the stars faint a couple of times, most notably when each thought the other was the murder victim.......You may find the screen play much contrived, and rather chaotic. But, I think the combo of horror and comedy is a winner, as shown by various other practitioners. Loretta is as gorgeous and sexy as I've ever seen her. Aherne much reminds me, in his speech and looks, of Errol Flynn, and is great for his role. He also made a great Emperor Maximillian, in "Juarez". Thus, if you should find the screenplay too opaque, hopefully, the stars will keep you interested.

JohnHowardReid This is one of those comedy/mysteries or mystery/comedies that succeed in being neither particularly mysterious nor particularly comic. Actually, so far as the mystery is concerned, the scriptwriters make little effort to work up any suspense at all as to the actual identity of the killer. Indeed, this movie is more a straight thriller than a puzzling who-dun-it, but it must be admitted that some of the sequences do have a fair amount of excitement, aided by Joseph Walker's atmospheric photography and the setting itself. Unfortunately, as for the characters themselves, they remain from first to last as rather ambiguous figures – and this criticism applies even to the principals, Loretta Young and Brian Aherne. Loretta looks a bit less emaciated than usual and plays with her usual, sweetly smiling competence. Brian's approach to his characterization is shallow and rather superficial. He remains – like most of the supporting players – as a mere stock figure, and not a particularly sympathetic one at that! Like many of the screen's amateur detectives, he assumes an always-attempt-to-be- witty, devil-may-care attitude, but fails to back it up with the kind of brawny derring-do that audiences like. Even in the movie's most dramatic moments, he remains a clown. Of course, Aherne was doubtless limited by the script – as are the support players like Sidney Toler and Donald MacBride who play comic policemen. Actually, Toler and MacBride are a bit more successful than Aherne. Gale Sondergaard is also on hand, but has only the one scene. Blanche Yurka looks delightfully sinister. William Wright as Carstairs does a lot of talking, but it's uninteresting talk. Jeff Donnell has a promising part, but it develops in a disappointingly routine fashion. The direction was in the hands of Richard Wallace, a dull but competent director who made a career handling movies that were halfway between "A" and "B". His best of his sixty-one films, in my opinion, was Sinbad, the Sailor (1947). He also did good work on The Fallen Sparrow (1943), although I must admit that most people don't like that movie, despite its great cast: John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak.

Robert J. Maxwell A mystery writer, Aherne, and his wife, Young, move into a basement apartment in Greenwich Village. The furniture is late, the electric power is off, and there is a great deal of confusion. The apartments upstairs of full of kooks or suspicious characters. That first night, and the next day, everybody seems to be rushing around, eavesdropping, screaming, getting locked in closets -- and the next day the police find a dead body in the back yard.The police begin an investigation under Sidney Toler, who looks just like Charlie Chan even without Asian make up. He's aided by Donald MacBride, a familiar character actor with a built-in suspicious sneer. Aherne and Young decide to involve themselves in the case and do more rushing around both within the apartment and within the sets that pass for New York City.Loretta Young is breathless and pretty. Brian Aherne overacts, sometimes to the point of embarrassment. His eyes pop, his mouth gapes, and he projects discomfort the way a traffic light signals traffic.But I don't really think that anyone could do much with what is essentially a B movie script. Substitute Chester Morris for Aherne and Gloria Stuart for Young, reduce the running time from 91 to 60 minutes and you have a fine, diverting 1930s entertainment, fit for a second feature and for Saturday matinées, where the kids will appreciate gags like Loretta Young being trapped in the basement coal shed, a load of call showering down upon her while she shrieks, the coal man asking, "Hey, what are you doing down there?", and Young shouting sarcastically, "I'm hanging out my laundry; what do you think?"

blanche-2 Loretta Young and Brian Aherne have "A Night to Remember" in this 1943 film about a couple that moves into a Greenwich Village apartment which turns out to be full of murder and mayhem. It sports an interesting supporting cast, including Sidney Toler of "Charlie Chan" fame, Lee Patrick, Gale Sondergaard, and Jeff Donnell.First of all, much as I liked this film, I'll go on record as saying that I can't believe Loretta Young was so anxious to get out of 20th Century Fox if this is the best anyone could come up with for her. Columbia wasn't at the top of the heap anyway, and this seems like a throwaway even for them. It's very light fare.Young and Aherne play the Troys, who move into a basement apartment at 13 Gay Street in Greenwich Village. Besides the cast, this is the main reason I liked this film. I used to live a couple of blocks from Gay Street, and 12 Gay Street is where the sisters in "My Sister Eileen" lived. In the '50's and early '60's, #10 Gay Street was home to Alice Ghostley, and her husband Felice Orlandi. Neighbors on another floor were Bea Arthur & Gene Saks. Close friend Paul Lynde was across the street at 123 Waverly Place, and Kaye Ballard was close by on 5th Ave. They all just walked to work at the Bon Soir, when they played that room.Tired and hungry, the Troys go out to dinner. They run into a friend of Nancy Troy's, Virginia (Donnell) who acts strangely. When Nancy goes into a phone booth, she hears someone setting up a meeting in her apartment! Strange goings on indeed. And when they find a co-diner at the restaurant dead in their backyard, things become stranger yet."A Night to Remember" moves quickly enough, and it's delightful, but probably a little miscast. Someone a little wackier than the stunning Young might have a better choice for the wife. Aherne, a very good actor, isn't quite at home in this milieu either. "A Night to Remember" resembles "Footsteps in the Dark" with Errol Flynn. Aherne was a better actor, but Flynn had a lighter touch and more charm. Alas, I think Aherne spent a lot of time in Flynn's shadow.I still love the movie despite its problems. Vintage 1943 - nothing wrong with that.