Mysterious Intruder

 

Read/Watch 'em In Order #120

The fifth movie based on the Whistler radio show is the only one that doesn't include the world "Whistler" somewhere in the title. 

This time around, Richard Dix plays a private detective who is a bit ethically-challenged. An elderly shop owner hires him to find a girl who moved out of the neighborhood seven years earlier. He won't say exactly why he needs to find her, only stating that he has something that belongs to the girl that is worth a fortune.

I mentioned  that Don Gale--Dix's character--isn't the most ethical person in the world. The girl would now be grown-up, so Gale hires a woman to impersonate her and find out what the valuable item actually is.

But while she is in the midst of pulling off this con, a thug arrives to murder the shop owner and kidnap her. The movie gets huge points right out of the gate by casting Mike Mazurki--my all-time favorite movie thug--as the killer.

This kick-starts one of the best movies in the series. Don Gale doesn't know what's going on, but he knows there's a very valuable prize out there somewhere. Soon, the cops know that as well. And the woman who Gale hired to impersonate the missing girl (who was soon released by the thug) knows it as well. Everyone has their own agenda and no one can completely trust anyone else.

One of the strengths of the film is that both Gale and the cops investigate the case in an intelligent manner, following up logical clues to their logical end. As a detective movie, it is very well-written.

In addition to a Mike Mazurki appearance, the rest of the movie is well-cast as well. Dix gives a typically strong performance as a smart-mouthed P.I., making us like him even as we recognize that he tends to slide down on the wrong side of the law from time to time.

The head cop is played by Barton Maclane, another of my favorite always-fun-to-watch character actors. His partner is played by Charles Lane, who usually portraits officious or greedy businessmen. Seeing him play a competent detective in a straightfoward manner was another treat the film offers.

As the plot unfolds, there are a couple more murders and Gale ends up in the role of chief suspect. Now he needs to not only find the MacGuffin, but also find the real killer. Both the unusual nature (and eventual fate) of the MacGuffin and the real killer's identity are effective twists. 

There are, in fact, a number of plot twists, but the overall story remains solid and well-constructed, smoothly incorporating the twists into the film. It's the sort of movie that I don't want to write about in too much detail. If you haven't seen it, it's too much fun to watch it unfold to give you too many spoilers.

 Mysterious Intruder is definitely in the running as my favorite Whistler film.