Under Cover of Night (1937)
** (out of 4)
A physics professor is stepping down from the main position of his university so a group of teachers are anxiously awaiting who he will name as a successor. One of the men, Prof. Griswald (Henry Daniell) kills his wife after she threatens to reveal that every "he" knows is actually her work. From this point on he must try and locate a book that proves he doesn't know what he claims and he will kill anyone he has to. A sleuth (Edmund Lowe) begins to investigate with the help of a woman (Florence Rice) and a dimwitted cop (Nat Pendleton). This MGM production features an attractive cast but sadly the story itself just isn't interesting enough to keep you entertained throughout the rather short 70-minute running time. I think the biggest problem is that the screenplay just doesn't offer us anything we haven't seen before and seen countless times already. There are countless scenes where our killer takes a huge chance and with very little to gain. Take for example the scene where he murders his wife who simply has a bad heart. In a rather unintentionally funny sequence, he throws her beloved dog out the window, killing it and the wife then drops dead of a heart attack. The entire murder sequence doesn't really work because it depends on the husband knowing that this would kill the wife and if it hadn't then he really would have been in trouble. Even other murder pieces are pushed onto other suspects but the way this is done just doesn't work and isn't a bit believable. The cast does what they can with Lowe once again giving a decent, laid-back performance where he walks and talks with a cool breeze. Daniell was always good at playing this stiff, dark characters and he does a fine job as well. Pendleton's comic relief isn't really funny but this is due to the rather lame jokes and not his performance. Sara Haden, best known for her role as the Aunt in the Andy Hardy series, steals the show as the wife in her few scenes. Dean Jagger and Harry Davenport appear as well.
** (out of 4)
A physics professor is stepping down from the main position of his university so a group of teachers are anxiously awaiting who he will name as a successor. One of the men, Prof. Griswald (Henry Daniell) kills his wife after she threatens to reveal that every "he" knows is actually her work. From this point on he must try and locate a book that proves he doesn't know what he claims and he will kill anyone he has to. A sleuth (Edmund Lowe) begins to investigate with the help of a woman (Florence Rice) and a dimwitted cop (Nat Pendleton). This MGM production features an attractive cast but sadly the story itself just isn't interesting enough to keep you entertained throughout the rather short 70-minute running time. I think the biggest problem is that the screenplay just doesn't offer us anything we haven't seen before and seen countless times already. There are countless scenes where our killer takes a huge chance and with very little to gain. Take for example the scene where he murders his wife who simply has a bad heart. In a rather unintentionally funny sequence, he throws her beloved dog out the window, killing it and the wife then drops dead of a heart attack. The entire murder sequence doesn't really work because it depends on the husband knowing that this would kill the wife and if it hadn't then he really would have been in trouble. Even other murder pieces are pushed onto other suspects but the way this is done just doesn't work and isn't a bit believable. The cast does what they can with Lowe once again giving a decent, laid-back performance where he walks and talks with a cool breeze. Daniell was always good at playing this stiff, dark characters and he does a fine job as well. Pendleton's comic relief isn't really funny but this is due to the rather lame jokes and not his performance. Sara Haden, best known for her role as the Aunt in the Andy Hardy series, steals the show as the wife in her few scenes. Dean Jagger and Harry Davenport appear as well.