The French Key

Mike Mazurki (Sam) recounts the story that starts off with a French key. The key had been put into the keyhole of his and room-mate Albert Dekker's (Johnny) room by the landlord and then deliberately broken off in the keyhole so that they could not return due to unpaid rent. They manage to get back into the room only to find a dead body and a gold coin. So begins the mystery.

The cast play the film as a comedy and there is the occasional humorous moment but there are also plenty of dumb, silly segments that try to pass as humour. Detective Joe DeRita (Fox) is a stereotypically stupid investigator who looks like the fat one out of Abbott and Costello. It's actually a pretty poor show when he ends up being the best thing about the film. The story is just not very interesting and Albert Dekker doesn't cut it in the leading role.