I give credit to the wink wink from the screenwriters of this series to the audience indicating that they wanted the characters to feel as if they were part of a movie plot. Every now and then, one of them indicates that if this was a movie, they'd say something like what they were about to say. Between series regulars Chester Morris (as Blackie), Lloyd Corrigan, Richard Lane and George E. Stone, all these characters have little aside wink winks, indicating that they know that they are clichés, and the more they spoof it, the funnier it gets. This time, Morris is aiding pretty Adele Mara whose brother (Larry Parks) claims he's in prison on trumped up charges. But disguised as a clown and escaping, he knocks Blackie out, causing more issues between Blackie and Lane, not that there wasn't already enough.
Adding the comedy as they introduced in the previous entry, Corrigan and Stone are contrasts in their schtick, but are an amusing team of sidekicks. Lane and his sidekick (Walter Sande) aren't carbon copy dumb cops, but I would find their ability to solve a crossword puzzle, let alone a murder, iffy at best. The script is still as clever as the previous two, if not as tight. But it's apparent that they are going out of their way to mix intelligence both in the adventure and with the humor, being far from standard B mystery fare. Lloyd Bridges has a blink, blink (and you'll miss him) walk-on, but something tells me that he'll be back in a larger part, a la Parks here who passed the screen-test and went onto bigger things. B movie veteran Lew Landers directs this at a light but brisk speed, and while this was a charm prior to the third try, it's still quite a lot of fun.
Adding the comedy as they introduced in the previous entry, Corrigan and Stone are contrasts in their schtick, but are an amusing team of sidekicks. Lane and his sidekick (Walter Sande) aren't carbon copy dumb cops, but I would find their ability to solve a crossword puzzle, let alone a murder, iffy at best. The script is still as clever as the previous two, if not as tight. But it's apparent that they are going out of their way to mix intelligence both in the adventure and with the humor, being far from standard B mystery fare. Lloyd Bridges has a blink, blink (and you'll miss him) walk-on, but something tells me that he'll be back in a larger part, a la Parks here who passed the screen-test and went onto bigger things. B movie veteran Lew Landers directs this at a light but brisk speed, and while this was a charm prior to the third try, it's still quite a lot of fun.