edgeplayer This film comes much earlier than Out of the Past but both show keen detailing for their times' social, political and gender realities. Excellent depiction and good camera-work of industrial security and espionage of the day. After the opening action sequences, during which Walter Pigeon's Nick Carter establishes himself with the audience, we're treated to a series of well executed short scenes of 1939 high-tech. Technology shown as integral to the future/the coming war. Transitional image of women--on the one hand Rita Johnson's character flies an airplane in an emergency and we see the looks of pleasure on her face as she experiences her own competency. But when she lands the plane, "of course," she's overwhelmed and faints (we don't see this, we're just told). A few years before Rosie the Riveter.A B film--these films were the television of the day--but just like T.V. today, up to 20% of them were well worth watching. And not always because of their plots, paranoid fantasies full of plot holes that they are. Some are actually interesting cultural windows onto the recent past. This is one.

Mike Newton The radio version of Nick Carter Master Detective was part of the Sunday afternoon line-up of shows on old time radio. Lon Clark, as Nick, was not the hard boiled private detective that radio audiences were used to hearing. With the help of his assistant-secretary-girlfriend Patsy, he solved the cases much like Sherlock Holmes, relying more on deductive reasons than physical action. The program's long time sponsor was Old Dutch Cleanser. Airing in the early afternoon, it wet the appetites of mystery lovers who were waiting to hear the adventures of Sam Spade, the Shadow, Official Detective or Martin Kane, Private Eye, which preceded Nick Carter on another network.

Bodhy72-2 Very Entertaining-----Walter Pigeon was charming as the lead and Rita Johnson was excellent as his leading lady. The plot is a bit sophomoric, but the leads make this an A film. Although some of the humor is lost with the beeman, the movie is rather fast paced, albeit short-length with a rather abrupt ending. The special effects are rather good for that time, and the line, " If I am wrong, I will apologize" serves as a great tagline for Pigeon's Carter. Ultimately you watch a film like this for the chemistry of its two main stars, and this film delivers. Walter Pigeon and Rita Johnson are no William Powell and Myrna Loy, but they are perfectly matched for each other and cover some of the plot holes amicably. This is a great movie to see on AMC or TNT one late night.

blanche-2 This B movie was directed by Jacques Tourneur, who went on to direct one of my favorite films, Cat People. It also has handsome Walter Pidgeon in an early starring role. This is a 1939 film about sabotage at an aircraft plant that Carter is called in to investigate. There are many airplane sequences, lots of fog, and everyone looks suspicious. Donald Meek is on hand as loony Bartholemew, the bee man, providing the comedy.It's fun to see people who, 15-20 years later, would be TV names: Frank Faylen of "Dobie Gillis," Milburn Stone of "Gunsmoke," Sterling Holloway, he of the unusual voice, of just about every TV show, who was also the voice of Winnie the Pooh. Henry Hull, who plays the old man in this and sported white hair, was 49 when this film was made. I took the trouble to look it up because in the 60s he was at least 150 years old. No, just in his 70s, one of those people who played old man all his life, I guess.This is a fun movie, with its old-fashioned and poorly done process shots, a very handsome Pidgeon, and some character actors from my youth.