Just perfect...

Crappy film

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.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

With my dad being a fan of George Sanders The Saint/Falcon movies,I decided to search round for a Sanders movie that he could enjoy over the Easter holiday.Taking a look at a DVD sellers page,I spotted a fun-sounding Film Noir starring Sanders,which led to me staying quiet.The plot:Desperate to get as close to one of the few manuscripts of Hamlet in existence,book forger Jim Fleg kills the security guard and steals the manuscript.Being an expert on the black market,Fleg arranges for Myra Blandy to sell fakes of the manuscript for him.Ignoring Fleg's demands,Blandy sells a manuscript to a high-roller called Hal McByrne.Unknown to Blandy,McByrne is a tough cop,who has been following their trail.Fearing that McByrne is closing in,Fleg decides that Mcbyrne's chapter needs closing.View on the film:Opening with a startling robbery sequence.co-writer/(along with Lawrence G. Blochman) director John Larkin brews a frosty Film Noir atmosphere,with Larkin & cinematographer Joseph MacDonald dimming the lights,as Fleg and Blandy find themselves stuck in a tough corner.Taking place largely in a library,Larkin smartly uses war time blackouts to cover the location in merciless shadows,which McByrne discovers contains people who want to give him his final blackout.After kicking things off with a thrilling intro,the screenplay by Larkin & Blochman sadly jumbles things up,with the writers keeping the movie largely locked down in the blacked-out library,which leads to the film being unable to build a real sense of tension.Along with the closed-in location,the writers also blow away the excitement created in the opening,by pushing Fleg to the sidelines,and instead focus on the growing romance between McByrne & Blandy,which despite giving Blandy a good Femme Fatale shade,is never set alight.Despite being pushed to the narrow margins, George Sanders is still able to give a wonderful performance as Jim Fleg,thanks to Sanders showing Fleg's silky smooth charm to hide a ruthless desire to keeps his crimes unpublished.Chasing after Fleg, Richard Denning gives a good,stern performance as Hal McByrne,whilst the pretty Gail Patrick gives an icy Femme Fatale performance as Myra Blandy,in a Film Noir which offers a speedy read.

Actually, the title is so memorable that it would be hard for any movie to live up to it. This one doesn't....but it's still pretty good. It's a tough little "B" crime tale with higher aspirations. Right in the opening scene, George Sanders kills a man in cold blood and steals a rare Shakespeare manuscript. But Sanders is not merely a killer, a forger and a crook; he is also a philosopher, who constantly analyzes the subconscious desire of the criminal for punishment and his compulsion for living on the edge. And "Quiet Please, Murder" has a pretty hard edge, including a very good femme fatale played by Gail Patrick. Unfortunately, probably due to the Production Code, she "has to" pay for her sins at the end. There is a little too much running around in the library, but the film never gets boring. **1/2 out of 4.

I saw this only once back in the '80's when UK TV regularly used to show programmes more than a few years old, never forgot it and finally caught up with again last night. It would be an ordinary little b picture in a rather grotty condition but for its unusual plot and setting which make it worth at least one look.Polished thug (George Sanders) – and his slinky female cohort (Gail Patrick) – both with mental issues are ready to murder people to get to valuable rare books so he can forge copies from them for resale. He murders a library security guard to get an olde copy of Shakespeare's Hamlet, problems then arise after he rips off a sinister gang of Nazis already speculating for the post War world, and a mercenary private dick (Richard Denning) is also on his track. Most of it is set in a dimly lit city of a library with miles of bookshelves, only running back and forth along its aisles and even stumbling across the Art room twice cheapens the overall atmosphere, which is surprisingly dark and menacing. Make no mistake, the various sets of baddies at each other's throats are an evil bunch of weirdos, with Sanders spouting manic cod psychology at every lucid moment, never mind Patrick not telling the truth for the entire picture. With a stroke of luck long haired Denning sorts it all out leaving wide eyed Sanders hoping to "die in terror", Patrick to go her own sweet way as a not very convincing victim of her own conscience, and even walks off at the end happily for a coffee with a GI's girl. And this is only a sketch for there's a lot packed into 67 complicated minutes.Thought provoking hokum yet daft beyond words and a little gem I treasure. To paraphrase what the man said, fulfil your secret desire to be caught off guard and pleasantly surprised.

"Quiet Please, Murder" is an odd movie that grows on you. Notice I didn't say Noir, or even Mystery - it's more of a drama/ romance in the 'B' mold. There must have been a headline movie billed over it because it couldn't stand on its own.Having said that, it's a fast-paced, compelling picture with an interesting cast that takes place mainly a city library. George Sanders, Hollywood's most polished bad guy, is a forger of priceless manuscripts and Gail Patrick is his legman (woman). They make the mistake of selling one to Sidney Blackmer, a frontman for the Nazis, who were trying to corner the market on rare art and literature. Richard Denning is a private eye who is hot on Sanders' trail.There is an undercurrent between Sanders and Patrick of some Freudian psychological aberration regarding sado-masochism which may or may not be an interesting plot twist. I thought Denning lacked gravitas and the part needed someone else. Byron Foulger, who must have made a thousand movies, is on hand as a librarian - you would recognize him immediately.And just when you think the picture is becoming a little far-fetched, it is over, as it is only 70 minutes long. All it would have needed was one more plot contrivance or loose end and I would have lowered my rating. This film played on TCM the other morning.