the audience applauded

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

SYNOPSIS: London police nail a fence known as "The Squeaker" who anonymously tips off the bobbies to crooks who will not meet his price.NOTES: A re-make of a 1930 movie directed by Edgar Wallace himself from his own screenplay. Percy Marmont, Anne Grey, Gordon Harker and Nigel Bruce were cast. (The Carlton DVD rates at least nine out of ten).COMMENT: This Edgar Wallace thriller has a marvelously atmospheric Rozsa score which is worth the price of admission alone. Plus a couple of songs, "He's Gone" and "I Can't Get Along Without You" by the lovely Tamara Desni. Plus Robert Newton in a typically rattled role, but managing to look suave and elegant as well. Nonetheless, despite its sterling production qualities, the movie does look somewhat old-fashioned these days - an impression that is heightened by the rather stilted dialogue provided by Edward O. Berkman in his screenplay. And the finale did not convince me at all. I cannot believe that the man built up to be such a mastermind could so easily become rattled. Howard's direction is at its best when people are moving, rather than speaking. Photography by Georges Perinal is most attractive. And speaking of "attractive", Miss Todd looks very fetching indeed.

'The Squeaker' is based on a novel by the prolific Edgar Wallace and concerns a man who squeaks. That is he informs Scotland Yard about jewel thieves who don't do business with him leading to their arrest. Eventually the Squeaker is tracked down and made to confess a murder. The plot is unsurprising and the identity of the Squeaker becomes apparent early on. It moves along steadily interspersed with some unmemorable musical numbers that hold up proceedings now and then.Edmund Lowe is bland as the hero and Ann Todd is only the token romance but Robert Newton who has a good share of screen time as a jewel thief is good and Alastair Sim with an extreme Scottish accent is fun. Bill Shine with his lugubrious face has a few choice moments. It would have benefited from a faster pace and more interesting characters. Even the main villain is rather dull.

Scotland Yard is baffled and frustrated by a jewel fence and informer known as "The Squeaker." In an effort to catch the elusive criminal they re-hire former Inspector Barrabal (Lowe), a brilliant police officer who left the force because of excessive drinking. Suspicious of a businessman who has a penchant for hiring petty ex-convicts, Barrabal goes undercover pretending to be an ex-con. The ending is a bit hokey but it did nicely wrap things up. Lowe does an adequate job as the polished and pleasant Barrabal. I best remember Lowe from the films he and Victor McLaglen did together (What Price Glory? and its sequels and Guilty as Hell). He was better in those movies. And poor Ann Todd - she has a totally thankless (and unmemorable) role in this movie. But, more than making up for this waste, are Robert Newton as a jewel thief (Larry Graeme) who knows who The Squeaker is, and Alistair Sim as the reporter (Joshua Collie) covering The Squeaker's exploits. Newton's character is one thief I kinda hoped would get away with it. As most would agree, Sim is an actor than can make every role, even a small one, memorable. To my recollection, I've only seen one other movie based on Edgar Wallace's work - The Terror. Sim is in that movie as well and is a riot. This movie may not be quite as good as that one but it never drags and holds one's interest to the end. Especially Sim and Wallace fans should see.

After some pearls are stolen, Scotland Yard make it a prority to catch the titular underworld figure, a silent, mysterious fence who rats on other thieves. Edmund Lowe (apparently reprising a stage role) is an alcaholic former detective given a chance to crack the case undercover. He gets a confession in the jarring final reel by intimidating the main suspect in a slightly macabre way, the only part that comes close to conveying the dark streaks of Edgar Wallace's fiction (it's based on one of his books, and son Bryan Edgar worked on the "scenario"). Otherwise it's a passable but routine b/w crime caper (with a loud, excitable score from Miklos Rozsa, an early credit). Notable are German Tamara Desni as a beautiful (and rather good) nightclub singer and dancer, and Alastair Sim as a comic-relief lazy newspaper reporter. With Sebastian Shaw, Ann Todd, Robert Newton, Allan Jeayes, Stewart Rome, Gordon McLeod, Syd Crossley, Alf Goddard, Danny Green, Fred Groves, Bill Shine, Ben Williams and an uncredited Michael Rennie as a medical examiner. Also available is a very different German adaptation from 1963. Other German versions were in 1931 and 1959 (for TV). An earlier British version (1930) was directed by Wallace himself (who passed away in '32). Howard also directed a 1932 adaptation of SHERLOCK HOLMES.Movie reviews at: spinegrinderweb.com