36 hours to kill (1936), Blind Alley (1939) and "Secret Command (1944)"

Recently I've watched a few interesting crime movies that haven't been commented on in this forum. One is "36 Hours to Kill", a Fox B movie from 1936 with Brian Donlevy as the fast-talking and very likeable hero for a change and Gloria Stuart as the "woman of mystery" being chased by a process server. Most of the action takes place on a train from New York ??? (or was it Los Angeles ??) to Chicago (passing through Alberqueque) and centers on a gangster, Douglas Fowley, trying to claim a winning lottery ticket while being pursued by G-men.

IMDB rates it 6.5 and most of the criticism seems to be directed towards Stepin Fetchit's performance as a slow witted train steward ... I guess it depends on how "forgiving" you might be about that type of "comedy relief", given that it was a common thing to see in crime movies of that period. Anyway, I enjoyed the way the story moves so quickly ... I guess too fast to think too long about any plot holes.

Two other interesting movies (for me at least) were "Blind Alley" (1939) and "Secret Command (1944)" although Secret Command is more of a "Spy vs Spy action adventure" than a crime thriller. "Blind Alley" is like a poor man's "Spellbound" where gun-happy gangster, Chester Morris, decides to take a family hostage while he waits for an accomplice to arrive by boat to take him away from the dragnet closing in on him. Out of desperation (or out of a perverted sense of duty as a healer of tormented souls), one of the hostages, Ralph Bellamy, who happens to be a Professor of Psychiatry, takes a professional interest in the gangster and his recurring dream. If only psychoanalysis were as successful in real life as it is in this movie. IMDB rates it 6.4. From IMDB, I also see that it was also remade in 1948 with William Holden and Lee J Cobb (aka "the Dark Past"). 

"Secret Command" is a WW2 thriller about saboteurs trying to wreck a Shipyard. It features a "visibly older but still able to throw a punch" Pat O'Brien playing an undercover G-man together with his pretend wife, Carole Landis, and his two "pretend children". Chester Morris is also in it as O'Brien's estranged brother who becomes convinced that his brother isn't completely truthful to him. For a Columbia movie of that period, I was impressed with the Shipyard set even though there was some stock footage used. A few other familiar faces such as Barton MacLane, Tom Tully and Wallace Ford also appear in it. IMDB rates it 6.5.

I haven't seen 36 HOURS TO KILL in years, but graded it above average.  Fowley is excellent as someone who just doesn't care.  Donlevy is very good and "lively" without being over the top.

I thought BLIND ALLEY was also above average and noted that I thought this was the best role I'd ever seen Ralph Bellamy in.  And Morris was excellent as a tormented criminal.  I thought the 1948 THE DARK PAST was above average also (nice selection Gary!).

I have, but have not viewed, SECRET COMMAND, so thanks for the reminder Gary.

Bruce R

Hi Bruce. No worries about that SECRET COMMAND reminder.

According to my movie inventory, I have a copy of THE DARK PAST somewhere ... but I don't remember ever watching it.  It may be a good time to finally dig it out.

ps. I always liked Ralph Bellamy as the clever main character in B movies as opposed to the clumsy, less sophisicated  "third wheel" character that he often played in A-list romance comedies where he lost out to Cary Grant. Unfortunately that's what he's mainly remembered for these days.

Hi: I have been off the site for a while as I was breaking in a new computer and trying to remember all my bookmarks (and passwords!). Regardless, I will have to check out 36 Hours to Kill as it sounds interesting and I love mysteries on trains. I also think Douglas Fowley is always good in these 30s films as a bad guy or man of questionable values and he had a very long career and in often very different roles (think Singing in the Rain) and he is great in one of the Roving Reporters 1930s series films for 20th Century Fox whose title escapes me now. I also like Bellamy in B Movies even detective ones that are panned such as the Inspector Trent or Ellery Queen series at Columbia.

I've seen the other 3 Ralph Bellamy Inspector Trent movies but not "ONE IS GUILTY". I guess it's a movie that's somehow fallen into that movie black hole.

Yes, One is Guilty is not one I have seen available anywhere...but I did not know the Girl in Danger was available either...where did you find it? I looked for both of these films for years but never saw them available from any source.

 

Hi Chris. I found it on a graymarket website that forces you to use a dodgy Premium download service (one that you would never give your credit card details to and they don't accept Paypal ... instead I used a third party multihost service and paid them with an anonymous payment service like Paysafecard) - ps. I think the website must get a commission for every Premium download. If you like, you can send me a private message via the Memberlist option at the top of this webpage and I can upload the video somewhere that you can access it. (The mp4 video is 864MB). nb. the recording has a GETTV logo on the bottom of the screen. I tried to search for the movie on www.get.tv but I didn't get any result back (GET TV is a USA subscription service owned by Sony).

Ps. I just found a copy of the movie at  https://m.ok.ru/video/1253452876432  It also has the GETTV logo