Star of Midnight

CinemaSerf

2023-12-06T07:46:39Z

The more I hear William Powell, the more I think he is the vocal double of George Sanders. Maybe it's because they interchanged some of these amateur detective roles, but when I listen... Anyway, here he ("Clay") is asked by his pal "Tim" (Leslie Fenton) to look into the disappearance of dancer "Alice" quite a while ago! Off to her theatre the pair go, accompanied by our enthusiastic sleuthing sidekick "Donna" (Ginger Rogers) and immediately "Tim" thinks he sees his missing paramour on the stage. She does the rat up a drain thing leaving them bemused and seeking some clues from local pressman "Tommy". It's during that chat that more than words are exchanged and soon they are looking for a murderer too... As they dig deeper, it emerges that Alice might have been tied up in another murder case and her testimony could prove crucial in saving a man from the chair. We've no shortage of suspects and red herrings in this quickly paced, but overlong and a little too formulaic outing for Powell. There's just a shade too much chat, not really enough action and although he and Rogers work quite well together once the film gets going, the rest of this is all just a bit predictable. It doesn't take itself too seriously, indeed there is some light-heated banter to be had at times, though, and Gene Lockhart and J. Farrell MacDonald's "Insp. Doremus" help keep the mystery stoked and watchable.