No Hands on the Clock
No Hands on the Clock
NR | 01 December 1941 (USA)
No Hands on the Clock Trailers

A wise-cracking private detective's honeymoon is interrupted by a kidnapping case.

Reviews
SpunkySelfTwitter

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

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Lidia Draper

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

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Yash Wade

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

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Bob

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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MartinHafer

Chester Morris stars as an investigator who finds lost persons. In his latest case, he found a woman (Jean Parker) and married her and is planning on a nice honeymoon in Reno of all places (nothing says romance than this city famed for its divorces!). Soon, however, Chester's pesky boss locates them and convinces him to take one more 'easy case'. Well, naturally the case is anything but easy and involves lots of peril. Can the couple manage to finish the case and survive at least long enough to consummate their marriage?There isn't anything especially deep or memorable about this film--it's a low- budgeted B-mystery and Hollywood made a bazillion of these back in the 30s and 40s. It's a bit better than many simply because Morris is so good in such roles and Parker is cute as his rather clueless bride--though I must admit that the plot is a bit more complicated and confusing than the norm.

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JLRMovieReviews

Chester Morris and Jean Parker star in this mystery that seems to have more comedy than mystery. They are newlyweds and are about to go on their honeymoon, when he is hired to find a missing person, as Chester is a detective. This film has a very relaxing and natural feel to it, as Chester and Jean banter back and forth. The viewer enjoys their company so much, you wish you could hang out with them for all the excitement and fun and games, particularly Chester. One might call it the Dean Martin trait. (They seem like the poor man's Nick and Nora Charles.) I tried to follow the mystery, as someone is indeed murdered. I did follow it, up the last 20 minutes or so. But what this has going for it is good company. If you're lucky enough to find this unknown little mystery, you've got one little gem, that has charm in spades.

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kidboots

In this movie produced by the "Two Dollar" Bills - William Pine and William Thomas, the always reliable Chester Morris played Detective Humphrey Campbell. Campbell was a creation of crime novelist Geoffrey Holmes who was to have his biggest writing success with "Build My Gallows High", which was turned into the film noir classic "Out of the Past".The title comes from a saying "death is timeless" and is depicted by a handless clock that is a feature of the Reno Mortuary. Stopping off to cash a cheque on his honeymoon (he has just married the heiress he had been assigned to find), Humphrey Campbell from a Missing Person's agency and his bride Louise (Jean Parker) find themselves in the middle of a hold up conducted by a thuggish red headed gangster (Dick Purcell). Once at the honeymoon destination - Reno!!! Humphrey's boss wants to send him on another case - a rancher wants him to find his missing son, Hal, who was last seen with a certain red head!!! The red head doesn't have much information to impart, an account of her being murdered.This is a terrific if complicated little mystery which should have been the start of a series. Chester Morris and Jean Parker had great chemistry, there were elements of the Thin Man. Who knows why a series didn't eventuate - probably because the same year saw the start of Morris's Boston Blackie for which he became best remembered and Jean Parker soon had her own (very short) series as Detective Kitty O'Day with definite emphasis on the slapstick.The Red Harris gang suddenly come back into the picture, they are very much interested in Humphrey, worried that he has identified them to the police as the bank robbers. They also seem to be connected to the kidnapping and Humphrey is beginning to wonder if Hal has been kidnapped at all!! By the end of the movie there have been several murders and also like the Thin Man the suspects gather nervously in a room waiting, or daring, Humphrey to unravel the complex mystery and offer his deductions. As usual with these tight little "who done its" there are a wealth of character performances. Grant Withers looking every bit of his 35 years, unfortunately, as one of the victims, he only has a small scene. Astrid Alwyn had developed from chilly other woman roles of the 30s to a decorative character actress in the 40s. Here she was admittedly a gangsters moll but she still exuded a "good gal" aura. Rose Hobart did have a few films of note in the early 30s but returned to the stage only returning to Hollywood in the 40s in usually stern faced women roles. Keye Luke had already finished his most famous movie association - as Charlie Chan's No. 1 son. After 1942 he had another continuing role in the Dr. Kildare series.

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goblinhairedguy

This is a terrific unknown B-picture from the Pine-Thomas outfit at Paramount. Chester Morris plays a fast-talking (and thinking) private dick who drinks milk instead of whiskey. Jean Parker is his sassy, lacto-intolerant new bride. There are plenty of other good character turns, especially by Astrid Allwyn as a hot-to-trot barfly. Although the plot (from Geoffrey Homes of "Out of the Past" fame) is intriguing, it's a bit too complex for such a short programmer. However, the repartee and character "bits of business" are top-notch, and journeyman director McDonald maintains a breakneck pace while slipping in some clever camera angles. The cryptic title refers to a clock that represents eternity, located outside a funeral home facing the hero's hotel. Worth seeking out.

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