KnotMissPriceless
Why so much hype?
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Frances Chung
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
mark.waltz
Michael Shane takes on Nazi spies in the fourth entry of this comedy mystery series which moves very quickly but contains far too many characters, red herrings and confusing loopholes. The entertainment value doesn't come from the story itself but from the witty screenplay and the way that Nolan and Mary Beth Hughes play off of each other. I found it to be at times to be too convoluted to follow and while the adventure scenes are exciting, too much seems to be happening at once. Even knowing when this was made. Nolan and Hughes seem to be having a very good time in the making of this film, but the way that the script moves the plot along makes it more irritating and hard to get though. However, if you can stand to watch this several times, you may begin to understand what the plot is all about. I've seen enough of these war movies to know what works and what is filled with unbelievable plot devices, and this seems to be more of the later than the former.
dougdoepke
Diamond smugglers lead detective Michael Shayne to shipboard intrigue and danger.A lively cast, good production values, and an intriguing mystery, add up to a superior entry in the Michael Shayne series. Lloyd Nolan is so good as the brash detective, injecting real spark into his scenes. Ditto the brassy Hughes as his long-suffering girlfriend. But it's really Superman George Reeves who surprises as the mustachioed bon vivant, O'Hara. He's looser and more charming than I've seen him—no "Man of Steel" here. And I wonder what became of Helene Reynolds who also shows flair, as a shady lady, but appears to have left the business soon after. Too bad.Anyway, it's a TCF production, which means even B-pictures get quality attention, as the well stocked crowd scenes show. Plus, the suspense part keeps you guessing, like who's trying to drown Shayne and O'Hara aboard ship— a really well thought out and nail-biting sequence. Then too, all the ingredients are wrapped into a neat fast-moving package by director Leeds. In passing-- note how the politics of the diamonds remains curiously unclear. It looks like the movie was produced around Pearl Harbor time, but no mention is made of the Japanese. Instead, Nazi's are mentioned as behind the diamond smuggling, even though America is not yet at war with Hitler. I wonder what the story is here.Nonetheless, this energetic little programmer still manages a solid degree of entertainment plus.
MartinHafer
The Michael Shayne series is unusual in that the first film was probably the worst of the films starring Lloyd Nolan. After a somewhat disappointing start, they tended to get better.BLUE, WHITE AND PERFECT, like most of the series, was made during WWII, so it's not surprising that the patriotism and Nazi angle was used. The film begins with Mike taking a job as a detective in an aircraft plant. No sooner than he's hired, there's a robbery and an important shipment of industrial diamonds is stolen. I love how with detectives in film and TV how the minute they show up, a crime is committed--it's convenient that way! Mike goes undercover and assumes a couple different aliases until finally the trail takes him to a cruise ship headed for Honolulu. Once on board the ship, he meets an old girlfriend and the oddly named Juan Arturo O'Hara (George Reeves). Naturally there is an attempt made on Shayne's life and O'Hara is shot. He turns out to be a government agent and will survive, but now it's up to Shayne alone to follow the trail.The film has a nice pace, decent acting (for a B-detective series) and doesn't go too far on the silly Nazi angle (instead letting the mystery itself be the focus, not stereotypical snarling Nazis). While not the best of the B-series, the Shayne films rank up there with such films as The Saint and Falcon for entertainment and enjoyability. The only negative I could see was Shayne's relationship with the blonde. She was certifiably insane and took to throwing stuff and behaving rather unhinged. This was supposed to be comic relief but just tended to interfere with the seriousness of the plot. Still, well worth seeing.
donofthedial
I'm working my way through the 4 film video package and this is the most entertaining one so far in my opinion. Not that it is a good film, but it has fewer drawbacks than the other two (Sleepers West & Michael Shayne, Private Detective.) The plot - Michael Shayne is following German agents who are stealing/smuggling industrial diamonds to Hawaii.Of course, in all these drawn out MS melodramas, it takes him half the film to get on board and on with the show. Onboard, he meets George Reeves and reacquaints himself with an attractive woman. Everyone gets good service from steward Curt Bois.As in all these MS films (so far), several scenes go on way too long with pointless dialog - presumably to fill out the storyline and running time. However, this film was less padded than the other two. Amen! Since MS and the ship are headed to Hawaii and there is a tag on the steamer trunks with a date in bold writing "Dec 6th", I thought they would be arriving the day before Pearl Harbor is bombed by the Japanese. But, no......The film was released in early 1942 so I do not know what to make of the steamer trunk date.The ending of the film has MS running off to Manila after a corpse falls out of a closet with a knife in his back and a mysterious note pinned to him. MS bids his sexy blond honey adieu and exits screen left for Manila. I dunno.......I don't expect much or try and dope out these films too much.Good to see George Reeves in an early film. Mary Beth Hughes as MS' g/f looks good. Lloyd Nolan is good in all these films, I should add. The city sets in the early part of the film are nice. I'm not sure what the title means.All in all - lightweight 'mystery' entertainment from the early 40s from a major studio.
