bkoganbing When I saw that Robert Lippert was listed on the credits as 'presenter' a lot of questions about The Hat Box Mystery were answered. Shortly Lippert would found his own studio that did poverty row quickies, some were better than others. Though it was a product of the short lived Screen Guild Productions, this film has all the earmarks of a typical Lippert.Tom Neal takes over a ramshackle detective agency that's up to the privates in debt. Girl Friday Pamela Blake works for Neal as does Allen Jenkins whom he keeps around for laughs. And also due to the fact that Jenkins's girl friend apparently feeds them from her hamburger stand when they can't afford a meal.A rather elegant man in spats and a van dyke beard says he'd like some incriminating evidence on his wife, a photograph coming out of a building where presumably a paramour resides. Blake volunteers and she has a camera concealed in a hat box. Only there's a gun in there and when Blake shoots a picture, the victim Olga Andre falls over shot.I won't go into any more of this very short B film, but simple forensics which Neal does and the police should as a matter of routine would have cleared Blake. Just where were the CSI technicians when this prominent society woman was shot?Allen Jenkins is simply Allen Jenkins, the none too bright sidekick on either side of the law in so many Warner Brothers films. But his presence in the movie was a Bob Lippert trademark. In about a third to half of the films at Lippert Studios they had a resident comedian who functions like Jenkins here. No doubt Lippert got the idea to put Sid Melton under contract and he made a few dozen Lippert films always the comic relief on either side of the law. And in some dreadful films just like The Hat Box Mystery.

morrison-dylan-fan Taking a look at posts recently made on IMDb's Classic Film board for a poll that was to vote for the best film of 1947,I noticed that an IMDb'er listed,what sounded like an intriguing Film Noir in a "Would like to see" section of their post.Searching around online,I was disappointed to find hardly any info of the movie around,which led to me doing an extensive search on the internet,until I happily,by pure luck finally ended up stumbling upon the kept well-hidden hat box.The plot:Struggling to keep her co-owned detective agency going due to mounting bills,Susan Hart is thrilled when a new customer arrives,who offers to pay up front if Hart completes the simple job of taking a photo of his wife,who he wants to divorce.Agreeing to the task,Susan is told by the customer that the only condition which she must accept is to use a camera that he has specially built into a hat box,due to the high chance that his wife would run away the moment she sees someone holding a camera.Fininding the building that Marie Moreland is staying at,Susan gets set to capture Marie on film at the perfect moment.Pressing the shutter button the moment that Morland appears,Hart is horrified to discover,that the "shutter button" was actually the trigger for a gun.View on the film:Running at a short & sweet running time of 45 minutes,the screenplay by Don Martin,Maury Nunes and Carl K.Hittleman make the story fly by thanks to going in an off-beat direction,that goes from the fourth breaking opening scene, to one of the detectives being oblivious to the romantic "signals" being sent to them by a greasy spoon cook. (played by an easy going Viriginia Sale)Whilst some of director Lambert Hillyer outdoor scenes do have a sadly "stagey" feel,Hillyer shows that he is able to create a smooth Film Noir atmosphere in the scenes that show Hart's fellow detectives reconstructing the murder scene in order to get her free.Along with Hillyer's directing Tom Neal gives a good performance as Russ Ashton,the detective who suspects that someone is trying to frame Hart,Whilst Pamela Blake giving a very good performance as Susan Hart,with Blake showing Hart to be someone who is on unsteady ground,as she begins to regret not checking what the "special" hat was,in the now fatal box.

Mike-764 The Ashton Detective Agency needs money badly, so when Russ Ashton is called away to Washington on a case, secretary Susan Hart takes on an infidelity case where she has to photograph a man's wife as she leaves an apartment using a camera disguised in a hat box. Susan doesn't realize that the camera camouflages a gun, and Mrs. Moreland (the woman) is shot. Ashton returns to find Susan in jail, so he tries to find the man (Stevens) even though he has a vague description. Stevens and his gang find out that Ashton and his sidekick Harvard, are on his trail so he tries to get him out of the way. Ashton then uses Susan as bait to trap the killers in order to prevent her from being tried for murder. Decent programmer with an enjoyable foursome of Neal, Blake, Jenkins, and Sale making the film seem like an OTR mystery show. The pacing of the film is great, with a lot going on considering the film's run time of 44 minutes. The plot is a bit predictable and done before, but the characterizations make it fun. Rating, 7.

sbibb1 Pamela Blake and her boyfriend Tom Neal run a detective agency that has been in some financial trouble. When Tom Neal gets an assignment out of town a well dressed fellow approaches Pamela Blake to ask her to get photos of his cheating wife for a divorce. The camera is to be hidden in a hat box. When Pamela goes to snap the photo of the cheating wife it is not a camera she is pulling the trigger on, but a gun that has been rigged inside the box. Pamela is arrested and it is up to her boyfriend Tom Neal and others to clear her name.This is a strict and tight programmer film, running just under 45 minutes. The movie in the public domain and can be found on many VHS and DVD versions put out by various companies.The opening of the movie is also interesting. The 4 main stars all introduce themselves and the characters they play before the opening credits begin.