Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

grainstorms "Michael Shayne Private Detective" (1940), is an unexpected charmer: a delightful hardboiled private eye movie that will have you chuckling to the very last frame while trying to figure out the murderer before Mike Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) does. Starring that thoroughly likable no-nonsense pro, Lloyd Nolan ( who appeared in the first seven of a dozen Shayne movies), and set in the last peaceful days before World War II, "Michael Shayne Private Detective" – the first in the series -- is an enjoyable gift box of welcome surprises: a period piece where the cars are both boxy and racy, men's suits are double-breasted and boxy, and the private eyes think best when they're boxed in. Private detective Shayne, broke as usual, suddenly gets a juicy assignment. All he has to do is nursemaid a spoiled rich girl (Marjorie Weaver), who has the gambling bug and all the wrong friends. Mike's attempt to show her a lesson backfires, and suddenly he's the chief suspect in a murder.A little thing like that's not going to stop Mike Shayne. Ingenious and inventive, fast-thinking and fast-talking, he has to dodge the cops while finding the real murderer. And now he's acquired a zany assistant, a proper old lady with a surprising taste for blood.Aunt Olivia: It was the great piano mystery. The body was found under the piano, his throat was strangled with piano wires, the soft pedal was found embedded in his neck, and somebody had completely severed the head from the body. He was dead!Michael Shayne: (dryly) Oh, suicide, hmmm?Mike's proficient with both a riposte and a pistol. ("Hey, that brooch is as phony as a mother-in-law's kiss!") And he's not bad with badinage. Cop: When are you gonna start talking straight?Mike: Not until my attorney gets out of law school!Shayne may have a quip for every question; but he's also sentimental, full of malarkey and blarney, whimsical, perpetually broke and a sucker for a pretty face.Add a batch of odd characters played by a superb supporting cast: Douglas Dumbrille, Elizabeth Patterson, George Meeker, Walter Abel and Irving Bacon; and you've got a screwball comedy with smooth ensemble acting, an ample supply of corpses and a solution that actually makes sense.An appreciation of Lloyd Nolan: "The actor who was generally credited with 'A' performances in a decade-long series of 'B' films became so good, in fact, that he permitted himself the luxury of turning down work, a privilege that ordinarily falls to far better known stars." -- The Los Angeles Times.

gridoon2018 The first film in the (quite prolific) Michael Shayne series, and also the first one I watched. There is nothing much above the ordinary in the direction or the production values (which may account for the film, and perhaps the whole series, being largely forgotten today), but the plot is dense (so dense, in fact, that you'll need to watch the final explanations by Shayne AT LEAST twice to get everything straight), Nolan makes a likable Shayne, Marjorie Weaver is a perky and appealing leading lady, the supporting cast is full of familiar faces (if not necessarily names - I'm sure I've seen the guy playing the gruff inspector before - playing, again, the gruff inspector!), and there is the occasional clever line ("This thing is as phony as a mother-in-law's kiss"). I think fans of the genre will go for this. **1/2 out of 4.

MartinHafer Michael Shayne has been employed by a rich guy to follow his wayward daughter and make sure she stays out of trouble. Now considering she was an obvious gambling addict, it seems that just cutting her off financially would have been more prudent! Regardless, shortly after Shayne goes to work, a man is murdered and Shayne is the most obvious perpetrator!! So, it's up to Shayne to unravel the mystery AND still keep this obnoxious spoiled brat out of trouble.MICHAEL SHAYNE: PRIVATE DETECTIVE is an excellent film as far as the chemistry of the characters goes. Lloyd Nolan is very good as the wisecracking detective and his supporting cast are more than up to the task (particularly Elizabeth Patterson as the adorable aunt). However, by the end of the film, the entire production bogs down because the writing is so bad. Sure, this is a B-detective film, but there is no reason the ending should have been so shabby. Instead of helping the viewer to understand the plot machinations and how the crime was committed by what they saw on the screen, the last 10 minutes consist of the police and Shayne talking and talking and talking until the murderer reveals themselves. This is VERY sloppy writing and then the audience is treated(?) to lengthy expositions by the killer and the illegal gambler as to why they did what they did. Wasn't this SUPPOSED to be something that the viewer could have been able to figure out by watching the mystery? Apparently not--and this makes for a film with a horrible unsatisfying feeling when it's all over.

SkippyDevereaux A very enjoyable film, with Lloyd Nolan as Michael Shayne. The supporting cast is also a joy to watch, with Elizabeth Patterson stealing it away in every scene she is in!! She is a hoot to watch. About the only cast member not really giving a good performance is Joan Valerie. She is too sullen, but then maybe that is the way the character is supposed to be played, but she sort of dulls this film down a bit. It is always a treat to see Lloyd Nolan in a film and this one is another good one in his list!!