A Major Disappointment

The first must-see film of the year.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

From the compelling opening scene (the best in the movie), Fleg (George Sanders) an expert forger of rare books is after a valuable edition of "Hamlet". When the library curator jokes "over my dead body", after Fleg has asked if he may take it home, Fleg is happy to oblige. If only the rest of the movie had lived up to the opening but, unfortunately, it doesn't. His partner in crime is Myra (Gail Patrick) a rare book appraiser and she has been busy trying to convince Martin Cleaver (Sidney Blackmer) that "Hamlet" is the genuine article and a steal at $20,000. But Cleaver is dangerous, he, in turn, is intending to sell the book to Nazi Generals (Goerhing, Himmler etc).Most of the movie is set in the public library, where Fleg takes control by masquerading as a police officer (and a very commanding one) and ordering the rare books to be put under "police protection". This was the directorial debut of John Larkin, who also wrote the story. To his credit he achieved more excitement from a library setting than most directors got from a whole war and it is a pity he only directed two more films (one was a short subject).Sanders and Patrick had screen chemistry together - with their Freudian comments about their need for danger and "You enjoy being hurt", but once Richard Denning entered as a Detective, the dark originality took a back seat to conventionality. Even my eyebrows were raised as Denning, in an effort to find the priceless lost books started flinging valuable books off the shelves. Then Lynne Roberts appeared as a patriotic librarian waiting for her Johnny, who is serving overseas. A different ending may have been viable, but in production code films of the 40s all offenders had to be punished so Patrick would never have been able to walk away. The fact that there was no romance between Denning and Roberts provided a patriotic subplot - so at the end he could upbraid Patrick's duplicity with a speech about how "there are plenty of girls like Kay in America today" etc, pointing out that she is loyal and true to her country and her man. Maybe the film meant to highlight that, in those fearful times, Patrick may have been the real villain, someone who has no loyalty and is not to be trusted.Gail Patrick began her career as a colourless ingenue, but, after "My Man Godfrey", broke the mold and from then on always seemed to find work as a haughty femme fatale. Lon McCallister had a very brief part as Freddie the library stacker. Theodore Von Eltz who, in my opinion, was a dead ringer for Edmund Lowe, had a brief scene in Denning's office.Recommended.

A really good cast, consisting of George Sanders, Gail Patrick, Richard Denning, and Sidney Blackmer stumble through "Quiet, Please: Murder," a 1942 film produced by 20th Century Fox.I unfortunately saw a very poor print of this with fuzzy sound, which naturally hampered my enjoyment. The plot concerns a rare book scam, headed by Jim Fleg (Sanders) and Myra Blandy (Patrick). Fleg steals a rare book from the library, makes copies, sells them as stolen goods, and Blandy verifies the book's authenticity. When Myra insists on selling a fake book to a Nazi, against Fleg's orders, trouble ensues. A detective, Hal McByrne (Richard Denning) becomes involved and falls for Myra, who is playing him against Fleg.Most of Fleg's dialogue is psychobabble, as he analyzes Myra and himself as people who like pain and desire punishment, etc. The story is convoluted, with Fleg, posing as a police officer, coming to the library to investigate a murder. He takes the opportunity to steal rare books, saying they need to be under police protection. The books are then stolen by Hal and consequently stolen by Myra.It all gets pretty confusing, and if you could have seen the characters throwing around these supposedly fragile, valuable books without wearing gloves or taking any kind of care, it's too much. It's always great to see Sanders and Patrick (who, as Gail Patrick Jackson, wound up as producer of the Perry Mason TV series) - he makes a great villain and she's a wonderful femme fatale.All in all, disjointed and disappointing.

This interesting film noir features three very good performances: Sanders, Patrick, and Blackmer. The scenes between Sanders and Patrick are particularly outstanding. Demming, as the detective, is unfortunately not nearly as good. He lacks the intelligence, strength, and cynical world view of a Bogart. Had Humphrey played this part, we could have had a classic.Pace, location (a library), and atmosphere are all good. But there are a few plot holes. Sanders strongly fears Blackmer and the ruthless organization (Nazis) he represents. Yet after mistakenly killing Blackmer, Sanders seems to experience no anxiety or remorse. Sanders then seizes the library and its occupants by using the ruse that he and his men are detectives investigating the murder. However, Sanders' hit man later tries to kill Demming by shooting him (without a silencer), even though the many other detainees could have been expected to hear, and become alarmed by, the noise. Finally, Sanders' hit man tries to kill Roberts, who has discovered the truth, but when she faints, he inexplicably does not. What bothered me the most, however, was that the chance for a great and unexpected conclusion was wasted. Throughout the film Patrick is portrayed as a smart, hard-as-nails sociopath fearing nothing. Yet at the end, she flees panic-stricken from the last surviving Nazi, a brutish thug. By the time the cops find him, he has killed her. And she ends up being just another weak, stereotypical victim. What should have happened is this: the cops find the Nazi thug, but he is dead. She has cleverly killed him, and then vanished -- to continue her evil ways.

The plot is as much of a riddle as the psychology of the two mainvillains: George Sanders and the perfect noir woman. They calmlydiscuss their need to fail, self-sabotage and love of punishmentand fear, namechecking Freud but in a skeptical aside. The(blackhaired of course) girl spends most of the action in furs, highheels and a spiky hat with a veil. (You mean that's not how youdress to visit your local library?) Her words and actions are alwaysambiguous. The library setting is played for all it is worth:dialogues take place in rooms filled with antique furniture,classical sculpture or old musical instruments. Sanders, seenthrough the 'prison bars' created by the strings of a harp (usuallyplayed by angels), plucks one out to use as a torture instrument.We last see him deliberately cutting his wrists on the handcuffsand looking forward to his execution. A routine thriller? I don't thinkso. xxxx