The Case of the Black Parrot

1941 "CABINET OF DEATH! Each secret compartment carried the names of one doom...to DIE!"
5.9| 1h0m| NR| en
Details

Sandy Vantine and her uncle, Paul Vantine, return from Europe with an antique cabinet purchased during their trip. Jim Moore, a reporter who had met Sandy and fallen for her during the voyage, suspects something odd about the cabinet. His suspicions are confirmed when people who have touched the cabinet mysteriously die. Jim and Sandy set out to solve the mystery before anyone else can become a victim.

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Reviews

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.
dougdoepke Lacklustre whodunit from Warners. Plot concerns a valuable antique cabinet being brought back from France to US. The furniture item appears a mysterious piece of work that may or may not be a copy of the real thing. Reporter Moore (Lundigan) and ditzy photographer Tripod (Foy Jr.) get involved with the cabinet and an exotic someone calling himself The Black Parrot. Soon a series of mysterious deaths occur surrounding the furniture piece. Is the Parrot responsible and just who is he really.It's a typical amateur sleuth programmer from that period. Unfortunately, the results are dimmer than most. Only the unknown method of killing registers as imaginative. Otherwise, the acting, visuals, and script are pedestrian, at best. Moreover, I don't recall a single scene not taking place on a set. It's a real cheapo for the otherwise respectable Warner Bros. I suspect the project was mainly to showcase pretty boy Lundigan-- who parades through his part-- in hopes of advancing his career. If so, I doubt that it worked for him any better than it does for the audience.
39-0-13 A lot of mystery movies came out in the 30's and early 40's which were not in the film noir tradition that flourished in the later 40's and beyond. This 1941 movie may be among the last in the who-dun-it style which featured an attractive couple, an amateur sleuth, sawdust headed cops, comic relief by an assistant to the main character, and a genuine puzzle. Here, the puzzle is also "how-dun-it." There is always an assortment of likely suspects, and always a least likely villain. Well, the elements are all here, and the lead actors are pleasant and nice to look at although neither of them became "A" list stars. Very much a time filler to watch, better than some, but not as good as STAR OF MIDNIGHT, say, or some of the Charlie Chan films of the same era. There are always loose ends in these movies, and I highlight just two of them below in a SPOILER QUERY.SPOILER QUERY: So how did the two victims of the Parrot actually find the secret murder method and how did they restore things before dying when death was instantaneous? Also, did the villain actually get away with the swag at the end when captured and taken out the door by the cops? No one mentions the real motive for the murders as the villain is captured, apparently holding on to the booty.
David (Handlinghandel) A stylish programmer. William Lundigan is always appealing and Maris Wrixon is generally fun to have around, if only for her name (though here she is quite good.)The plot is elaborate and somewhat preposterous. And I guessed the mystery within the first few moments. But it's chic and nicely turned out for a cheapie.
boblipton Fast-paced mystery programmer that times in at exactly one hour, this one doesn't give you any time to grow bored, as a piece of forged Chinese furniture turns out to be real. Eddie Foy Jr. is great as the fast-talking sidekick and the plot veers in unexpected direction. William Lundigan is earnest and stiff as always, but even the butler speaks fast in this one.