a5c7b9f00b Reporter Steve Haines (Boyd), on the trail of a business tycoon, follows his subject onto an ocean liner and gets wound up in a cruise full of intrigue, romance and murder. This should only be a genre-film "6 of 10" stars, but I've given it an extra star on the basis of William Boyd's performance. Although Boyd always entertained as Hopalong Cassidy, His eventual identification with that role alone essentially tunneled him out of any notice as the highly talented naturalistic actor that he was. He really shines in this film as a headstrong but clever reporter trying to discover why there would be two different murders of the same man.<br/><br/>The rest of the film is typical of "Poverty Row" efforts of the time,although above average in its pacing - and once the mystery kicks in, it is surprisingly effective, playing with and against audience expectations in a way that leaves the discovery of who-done-it a surprise.<br/><br/>As to the narrative that leads up to the mystery - it's breezy and not without its entertainment value. I admit considerable continuity lapses, but th pacing rushes us past them, so I won't complain.<br/><br/>Most reviews I've seen complain of the musical number in the middle of the film, but anyone who knows the comic song tradition that came out of Vaudeville like "Second Hand Rose" or "Harrigan") will recognize it as a novelty song, and rather a charming one at that.<br/><br/>But at any rate, at only about a hour's run, it's worth it to see Boyd in grand form as someone other than the cowboy savant, Hopalong. This is from back when movies were more about script and story line, when movies were movies. Classic romantic little guy against rich big guy and the girl in the middle. Haines is a reporter who believes that's powerful rich guy is not on the up and up, illegally profiting off others. Very cute movie and decent quality given its age.
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295 weeks ago