mark.waltz Review of A Shot in the Dark

A Shot in the Dark (1941)

A mystery stricken with comedy or a comedy stricken with murder? You decide!

[3/10 · 6 May 2013]

This is a "D" grade Warner Brothers programmer (at under an hour) set in the nightclub world where a sudden murder on a crowded street results in the presence of all the usual suspects. Nightclub owner Ricardo Cortez seems the most obvious suspect, but detective Regis TOomey ain't so sure. Prankster reporter William Lundigan keeps showing up at the most inopportune times, first crying in crocodile tears that he was the killer (just to get into the precinct to get information) and later pretending to be a woman to get into Toomey's room just to get more information on the scoop. Figuring out that he can't get rid of this bad penny, Toomey (who at one point stifles a laugh) decides to make use of this pest, much to his utter detriment. A dozen or so suspicious characters pop in and out of the story in a most convoluted manner, including a gun-toting dame, an unusually close brother and sister, and the pretty heroine (Nan Wynn) that several of the men anxiously try to get for themselves. A well-filmed chase sequence ends the short film, but overall, it is the film's excessive tongue-in-cheek attitude that descends it into mediocrity.