Just so...so bad

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Jim Fleg (George Sanders) is a scumbag who has stolen an original folio of Hamlet AND is now selling forged versions. Can it get worse? Yes, he's a police lieutenant! Unfortunately for Fleg, he trusts a dealer to sell his forgeries...but she is really unscrupulous and stupid and sells one of them to folks Fleg warned her NOT to sell to. Why? Because that agent is purchasing the folio for top Nazis...and if they find out it's a forgery, they won't go to the cops...they'll go for their heads! Soon Hal McByrne (Richard Denning) gets involved in investigating the case and trying to figure out what's really happening.This B has excellent acting, very good writing and better than average production values. If the film weren't only about an hour long, you might swear it's an A picture. Well worth your time.

This was a perfect vehicle for self-professed cad George Sanders and he found a gal more than his match in cold blooded Gail Patrick here. They share some surprisingly frank and witty badinage about criminal psychology along with their mutual oily distaste for humanity which transcends the occasionally breezier aspects of this quasi noir and gives it a nicely crusted edge. The movie veers back and forth between crime drama and something a bit lighter but overall, it hits a lot of good notes and has dated surprisingly better than many far more famous movies from the same era. The library antics are amusing enough, but the real selling point of this movie is Sanders, whose effortless cool is right up there near his best and far more recognized roles.

George Sanders (Fleg) is a book forger who, in collaboration with phony forgery expert Gail Patrick (Myra), carves out a wealthy lifestyle by selling his "original" Shakespeare copies to the rich. However, Patrick makes a mistake by selling one of these fakes to well-connected Nazi Sidney Blackmer (Cleaver) who demands his money back. At the same time, detective Richard Denning (McByrne) is also sold a fake book and is looking to crack the case. Everyone meets in a library for a showdown.The film starts off alright with Sanders in a typical villainous role, but I'm afraid interest just seeps away. Everything gets complicated, there are far too many characters and henchman to understand who is siding with who and it ends up being a lot of people running around in a library. Totally unbelievable, a quite preposterous plot and some pretty stupid dialogue with meaningless psychobabble. I just wanted it to stop.Having said that, I've never known so much activity to go on in a library. They are usually full of obnoxious teenagers talking really loud, tramps sitting around, old people reading newspapers and I remember using the place to crash out after a hard night's drinking or whatever else I'd been up to. I'd rather spend the length of this film in an actual library rather than watch the film.Finally, I remember being in our school library at the same time as a peculiar looking guy from the year below me. He was peculiar because he had recently died his hair gold. Not blonde……Gold…!! Anyway, I have to applaud him in his outlook on literature. I remember him saying aloud "Shakespeare! On the floor!" in disgust as he picked up the Shakespeare book and placed it carefully back on the shelf. I found it funny but it also made me view the notion of respect in a different light. He was genuinely offended by the fact that a Shakespeare book had been discarded on the floor. And I really liked him after that incident. I googled him recently and discovered that he has won some military honours in Sierra Leone and Afghanistan and is a Colonel and expert in military planning. Anyway, I see him as how George Sanders could have turned out if only Sanders had shown Shakespeare a little more respect. Even though I know that at school he died his hair gold! Ha ha.

This film is terribly uninteresting. The characters are one dimensional and the script lacks depth. It doesn't look as though the writer has made any effort to engage the audience with a believable storyline or interesting characters. The only reason why I watched it is because George Sanders is in it. When he is presented with a good script under a good director his performance really soars. This film has neither a good script nor a good director. The performances at best are mediocre, and even Sanders without a good script and director shows the holes in his acting. The film is utter crap, and the only thing it is good for is to be relegated to the dustbin.