I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Spoiler Alert. I must be the only person in the world who doesn't like Lloyd Nolan. I find him intensely annoying and totally unbelievable as private detective Michael Shayne (who originally was a hard-boiled type). And in "Sleepers West," he just seems inept. A guy is on trial for his life, but he's innocent, and the real murderer is the governor's son (I think -- this was a very confusing movie). But a single witness can blow everything open. Naturally all the forces of evil will do everything to keep this witness from testifying. So what does Shayne do to protect her on a train en route to the trial? He sticks her in a compartment, says "Keep your door locked," and leaves her totally unattended as he wanders around the train and swaps sarcasms with his old flame, an eager girl reporter who wants the story. The witness has no other protection. And evidently Shayne doesn't even carry a gun. If the witness was so vital and her life so endangered, why wouldn't she have been guarded by lots of people, including a couple of heavies armed to the teeth right there in the compartment with her? I also didn't buy the witness's abrupt change of heart, from a tough alcoholic who didn't care about saving a guy's life to a girl with a heart of gold. I would've given this mess one star, but I added a couple of stars because I love trains. If you want to see a vastly superior comedy train mystery, find "Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone."

In terms of suspense and action, this is one of the weaker entries in the Shayne series. Most of the storyline is confined to a train ride carrying a secret witness to a west coast trial, who Shayne is supposed to protect from those who don't want her to appear. Unfortunately, not much use is made of the confined conditions to build suspense. Then too, we know early on the identity of the witness and who's on board to silence her, so there's not much mystery, either.Fortunately, there is a sparkling cast, led by the breezy Nolan, along with a brassy Hughes and a bumptious Bari. In fact, Bari and Hughes are natural personality rivals, setting off some delicious undercurrents. Then there's an unheralded threesome of black porters, who contribute humorously to the overall lightweight mood. Look also for Louis Jean Heydt, a familiar face from that era, who does well with a larger than usual role. All in all, it's an entertaining 70-minutes, but not up to the series' trademark mix of suspense plus humor.

"Sleepers West" is a very enjoyable Michael Shayne mystery from 1941. Lloyd Nolan is Shayne, of course, and Mary Beth Hughes is the surprise witness he's trying to get to court before anyone can get at her.He doesn't have a tremendous amount of luck there, as he runs into his ex-fiancé, reporter Kay Bentley, at the train station, and she's going to be on the same train. And Helen Carlson, the witness, isn't very cooperative. After being brought on board on a stretcher in a black wig, she rips off the wig and wants a drink.Neat and fast-moving story with Shayne working to clear a criminal who, for once, is innocent, while other people have their own agenda for wanting him found guilty.Nice, energetic film with the likable Nolan and wisecracking Lynn Bari.

This is a pretty good entry in the Mike Shayne series. I say pretty good because there are a couple of better ones than this one. It starts off on good footing - a witness is traveling to a trial on a train, in disguise and in the care of Mike Shayne. Naturally, there are a few others on the train with a great deal of interest in uncovering this witness. Then follows the usual hijinks and shenanigans that take place on a train with sleeping cars; people coming in and out of compartments looking for this one and that, shady characters searching for passengers, people breaking into compartments, etc.Several reviewers have compared this film to "The Narrow Margin", but from this point on, "Sleepers" and " Margin" differ significantly, as "Sleepers" begins to lose its luster as well as the slight amount of tension it has built up. I disagree with some reviewers that "Narrow Margin" was copied on this picture, as that movie was taut and tense right to the end, with Charles McGraw of the scowling countenance in the role played by Nolan here. "Sleepers" goes off on a tangent - the witness (Mary Beth Hughes) has fallen in love with a man who has stumbled into her compartment (Louis Jean Heydt, out of character as a good-natured slob instead of a sneak), they leave the train with the help of a passenger, and from here on the film limps to a crowd-pleasing, pablum ending so characteristic of B movies.Lloyd Nolan is, as always, stalwart and more charismatic than at any other time in his career as Shayne, which is the main reason to watch this entertaining series. I just wished they could have come up with a better way to end matters, like "The Narrow Margin" did.