Just Off Broadway

Michael Shayne is serving on a jury when a key witness is murdered in front of everybody by a mysterious knife thrower. Despite the jurors being sequestered in a hotel, Shayne manages to sneak out to investigate. A decent B detective movie with a nice mystery and healthy dose of comedy. Lloyd Nolan is perfect in the role of Shayne and always a treat to watch. A trio of lovely starlets in this one: Janis Carter, Marjorie Weaver, and Joan Valerie. All three are pretty but Weaver has the best part as the reporter helping Shayne investigate. Good chemistry between her and Nolan. The rest of the cast includes Phil Silvers, Don Costello, and Richard Derr. Not one of the best of the series but a fine time-passer.

...with Lloyd Nolan as the Michael Shayne character. In this entry, Nolan is serving on a jury in a murder trial. A witness is knifed while testifying, so Nolan immediately jumps out of the jury box and hides the knife under a table. I'm no legal expert, but I think this qualifies as either suppressing evidence or obstruction of justice.

It gets worse. Nolan figures out who killed the witness ... some professional knife-thrower guy named "Shiverino," or something similar. Nolan tracks down the guy to a warehouse, and breaks in (I think that is also illegal). Then the guy turns up dead. In trying to escape, Nolan slugs a security guard (sounds like assault and battery to me). In the courtroom finale, Nolan, still acting as a juror, is allowed to call and question witnesses. Then he sums up the case, Charlie Chan-style, but you need a scorecard to figure out who did what to whom and where. Justice is served, somewhat, as Nolan gets a short jail term for contempt of court. The screenwriters should have gotten the electric chair.

This film is not even amusing. Nolan comes off as irritating, which is too bad, since I like him. Marjorie Weaver, who plays a reporter, aids and abets Nolan. Phil Silvers is barely funny as a newspaper photographer. Janis Carter, a lovely B-movie gal, is completely wasted as the defendant. She has little screen time, and only has a few lines near the end of the film. The fight and chase scenes are shown at high speed, in an early attempt at Cinema de Benny Hill.

Joan Valerie sings (or lip-syncs) "It Happened, It's Over, Let's Forget It." Sound advice.

Private detective Michael Shayne is serving on the jury trying Lillian Hubbard for the murder of Harley Forsythe. A witness with information that could clear Lillian is killed by a knife hurled from inside the courtroom. Shayne hides the knife in the ensuing confusion.

He slips out of the jury bed sit that night after putting a fellow jury man and snorer to bed and, with the aid of reporter Judy Taylor, traces the knife to a professional blade-slinger, Count Edmond Telmachio, who knocks him out and answers a call and heads to a certain location to meet the caller.

Shayne finds the Count murdered in a warehouse and a broach discovered on his body now points the finger of suspicion at nightclub singer Rita Darling and the owner of the club where she works ...

This is second Michael Shayne mystery film I have seen, the first being Dressed to Kill, which was clever and top notch, and Just off Broadway is just as good with its busy plot that has Shayne get to the bottom of a case within a limited time after secretly escaping from jury confines. He's joined by a journo girlfriend, and they make one fun team - there's great wisecracks, an engaging plot line, twist and turns and Phil Silvers almost stealing the scene as a press photographer trying arduously to snap a pic of Shayne so as to prove that he broke out of jury confines. Of course, it's not legally correct (such as Shayne as jury member allowed to cross examine the suspects etc and) can be farfetched, but it's not meant to be a realistic police procedural - it's entertainment!

In this Michael Shayne movie, it begins with Shayne serving on jury duty...something VERY unlikely for a private dick. Regardless, as a butler is testifying in court, an unseen person throws a knife and kills the butler! Instead of remaining with the jurors, however, Shayne steals the murder weapon and sneaks off to investigate the case.

This is one of the goofiest set-ups for any Shayne film, as having his investigate while on jury duty is a first...and likely to get him jailed if the judge finds out his actions. Still, it is enjoyable and provides the usual Michael Shayne excitement and twists.

Fast and furious "B" courtesy of Lloyd Nolan's unstoppable for very long Mike Shayne, private, I guess, detective. Murder abounds most foul, but you can be readily assured in this instance the butler didn't do it. Courtroom highjinks are just the beginning of the fun as Mike bothered by brunette reporter with occasional appearances by photographer buddy played by Phil Silvers in early "Sargent Bilco" mode, investigates in the wings of the local Ed Sullivan theater searching for a knife throwing contingency. After 2 or 3 conks on the head, sped up fist fights, being saved by bruised brunette more times than was needed, Mike is finally free to hunt down the master maniac. Imagine the surprise when we find out courtrooms are often like outhouses, full of stuff we'd rather not see, let alone smell.

The adventures of Mike Shayne weren't huge moneymakers for 20th Century Fox, in the detecting arena that role was filled by the ever scrutable Charlie Chan. Suffice it to say, this caper "Just Off Broadway" wasn't the best sparkler in the series, but an OK time waster in the 60 minute market. The method of death here can not be expected to be any "knife in the water".