TWELVE CROWDED HOURS
(director: Lew Landers; screenwriter: John Twist/story by Garrett Fort & Peter Ruric; cinematographer: Nicholas Musuraca; editor: Harry Marker; music: Robert Russell Bennett; cast: Richard Dix (Nick Green), Lucille Ball (Paula Sanders), Allan Lane (Dave Sanders), Donald MacBride (Sgt. Joe Keller), Cyrus W. Kendall (George Costain), Granville Bates (James McEwan), John Arledge (Red), Bradley Page (Tom Miller), Anthony Warde (Jerry Miller), Dorothy Lee (Thelma, switchboard operator), Joseph de Stephanie (Rovitch), Addison Richards (Berquist); Runtime: 64; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Robert Sisk; RKO; 1939-B/W)
“A so-so B film crime drama.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A so-so B film crime drama directed in a fast-paced manner by the prolific Lew Landers (“A Yank in Korea”/”Chain Gang”). Writer John Twist bases it on the story by Garrett Fort & Peter Ruric. Investigative NYC newspaper reporter Nick Green (Richard Dix) one night looks into the murder of his night editor Tom Miller, and makes it his business in the next twelve hours to prove that the accused Dave Sanders (Allan Lane), the brother of his dance instructor girl friend Paula (Lucille Ball), is cleared of the crime. The one responsible for the murders is a dapper fat man numbers racketeer boss named George Costain (Cyrus W. Kendall), who orders four killed that night when he loses his numbers payoff of $80,000 in a double-cross. It seems one of George’s henchman, Jerry Miller (Anthony Warde), stole the loot but was killed and left for dead on a train, where the resourceful Nick picked it up and fled with the satchel of money and policy receipts. It results in homicide detective Keller (Donald MacBride) chasing after Dave and also George gunning for him, as Nick gets out of one perilous situation after another. The killings are done by a contract truck driver hit man (Joseph de Stephanie), who uses his ten-ton truck as a killing machine. Lucille Ball’s talents are wasted, as she will have to wait for TV and her I Love Lucy program to show her stuff.
REVIEWED ON 6/17/2017 GRADE: B- https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/