bkoganbing A rather unrealistic happy ending prevents me from giving Tell No Tales a higher rating. A lot of the plot premises of this film can be found in the Humphrey Bogart classic Deadline,USA, but that one was far more true to life.Melvyn Douglas is the editor of a respectable paper that has been bought by a Rupert Murdoch like publisher played by Douglass Dumbrille who wants to just close the paper. Well if they got to close the paper Douglas edits will go down in a blaze of glory.A kidnapping that has been sensationalized in Dumbrille's paper and the main witness Louise Platt has become a target because of it is what Douglas uses as his cause. The editor turns detective and of course finds out who the kidnappers were. It's a rather methodical process that puts him into contact with all kinds of people. Back in the 30s kidnapping was a hot issue because of the Lindbergh case and a lot of films were made on the subject.Besides those mentioned look for a good performance by Gene Lockhart as a gambling house proprietor. It's not quite the usual Gene Lockhart role.To bad a lousy ending spoiled a good B film from MGM. There B films could have been A products at other studios.

blanche-2 Melvin Douglas stars in the 1939 B movie, Tell No Tales.Douglas plays Michael Cassidy, who is the editor of a newspaper whom he's told is about to close its doors. In the meantime, a rag has been sensationalizing a kidnapping; a witness (Louise Platt) is being kept a virtual prisoner at the school where she teaches. While Mike is having a drink in his usual bar, the bartender checks a list and realizes that he has one of the bills the kidnappers received. This gives Mike the idea of tracking down and catching the kidnapper himself and giving his newspaper a great final issue.I often wonder how Melvin Douglas must have felt, breezing his way through one film after another, possibly knowing that he was one of the finest actors of the century. It was a talent he wouldn't be able to show until he was an old man, but when he did, one saw how wasted he had been all those years. He's wonderful here in a spirited performance.It was nice to see Mantan Moreland and Theresa Harris in this film, as they were two black actors deserving of more recognition. Moreland is probably best remembered as Birmingham, Charlie Chan's chauffeur. He had a friendly face and an enormous comic talent. Theresa Harris for some reason had better roles in precode films than she did later on. I suppose in a way this is a film about wasted talent - Moreland and Harris, a beautiful and sexy woman, were victims of their time and Douglas was in a groove from which he did not escape until much later.Good movie with some very good performances.

kidboots Leslie Fenton, as an actor, had been around since the late 1920s, mostly as not very likable gangsters or crooks and because he was never the star always disappearing about half way through the movie. I always liked him, mainly I think because he happened to win the heart of one of the most beautiful and unusual of the early thirties actresses - Ann Dvorak. He stopped acting in the late thirties (one of his last roles was in "Boy's Town") and had a brief period of directing shorts. "Tell No Tales" was his first feature and his best.Melvyn Douglas plays Michael Cassidy, a managing editor of a reputable newspaper "The Evening Guardian" that ceases publication on it's 75th anniversary. It has been closed down by Matt Cooper (Douglas Dumbrille), owner of a rival newspaper which happens to be a "yellow" tabloid. Despondent at the thought of all the staff losing their jobs he cashes his pay check at the local bar and receives one of the $100 bills used in a kidnapping ransom - a case that is sweeping the city. It is the first break in the case and Michael is determined to break it so the paper can go out with a bang!!!Ellen Fraser (Louise Platt) a young teacher at a private school was the only witness and is under 24 hour police protection. Cassidy manages to squirrel the girl away from her "prison" but while they begin to hunt for the kidnappers (by tracing the path of the $100 bill) they, in their turn, are followed and it isn't long before Ellen disappears only to re-emerge a few minutes before the ending. Cassidy then plunges into tracing the bill's journey, from a disgruntled would be bride groom (and according to the fight that ensues when Cassidy leaves, never to be!!!) to a wealthy society wife with something to hide ("you told me you were through with him" he husband (Halliwell Hobbes) hisses!!) to a confronting and touching Afro-American wake. It was a dramatic breakaway from the stereotypical depiction of black people at that time. Mantan Moreland was one of the guests and it gave a poignant acting opportunity to Theresa Harris and the marvellous old Griffith actress Madame Sul-te-Wan ("Hoodoo Ann") as the grieving mother.I liked the way the plot led to some tantalising, unrelated gossipy bits (the bridegroom and the society girl) - we never find out whether Hobbes kills his wife as he lunges for her, the camera just continues with the main story. I thought the movie was exciting and fast paced. I also liked the fact that two of the co-stars, Douglas Dumbrille and Gene Lockhart, two very oily villains of the 30s, pop up in quite ambiguous roles - especially Lockhart as Arno, a quietly spoken, canary loving gambling den proprietor!!

Arthur Hausner Watch this film if only to see black actress Theresa Harris in a dramatic role. I am so used to see her playing maids in films of the 30's that it was a refreshing change of pace and a revelation. She can act! Her home was one of many to which star Melvyn Douglas was led in his effort to track down the owner of a $100 bill that was part of a ransom payment after a kidnapping. Actor Leslie Fenton's first directorial effort is also a well-paced 69-minute crime and mystery drama, packing lots of sleuthing by Douglas, endangering himself and the only witness (Louise Platt) to the kidnapping. I was glued to the story and was biting my nails during the exciting ending. Well worth watching.