Just a few short years before we all got to love her as Lucy, Lucille Ball stars here in a crime/murder mystery in which she's recruited by Scotland Yard! To catch the 'Poet Killer', a serial murderer inspired by the works of Charles Beaudelaire. There's a very fine cast here made up of many of the era's stalwart actors, some of them dubiously appearing as red herrings before the killer is eventually revealed. The primary one is Boris Karloff, almost seeming like he belongs in a different picture. He's not in the story very long, just enough to suggest that this could have been an entirely different movie if he stuck around.
While Sandra Carpenter (Ball) responds to come-ons in the personals column of the London Courier, she's trailed by Yard detective Barrett (George Zucco), at first unbeknownst to her but making a splash the first time he has to make the save in a tight situation. A little bit of the old Lucy Ricardo is previewed during that comical gun exchange between them in the back of a cab. Ball seems to drift in and out of a slight British accent in the film, which she didn't have to since she's an American who traveled to England.
For a while the story line points to the elegant Robert Fleming (George Sanders) as the Poet Killer, a situation that becomes complicated for Ms. Carpenter when it appears that a romance is in the offing. There's an awkward scene in Fleming's study between Sandra and Inspector Temple (Charles Coburn) in which it appears she's trying to shield him from suspicion, but then reverses itself when she cooperates. I thought that was clumsily done.
Well before the finale it becomes pretty obvious who the real killer is, so obvious that even O. J. could figure it out. It brings the story to a successful conclusion for Scotland Yard and the new pair of lovebirds. I rather liked this one for it's atmosphere and interesting cast, and upon consideration, probably the only time you'll see Karloff and Zucco together in a non-horror film.
While Sandra Carpenter (Ball) responds to come-ons in the personals column of the London Courier, she's trailed by Yard detective Barrett (George Zucco), at first unbeknownst to her but making a splash the first time he has to make the save in a tight situation. A little bit of the old Lucy Ricardo is previewed during that comical gun exchange between them in the back of a cab. Ball seems to drift in and out of a slight British accent in the film, which she didn't have to since she's an American who traveled to England.
For a while the story line points to the elegant Robert Fleming (George Sanders) as the Poet Killer, a situation that becomes complicated for Ms. Carpenter when it appears that a romance is in the offing. There's an awkward scene in Fleming's study between Sandra and Inspector Temple (Charles Coburn) in which it appears she's trying to shield him from suspicion, but then reverses itself when she cooperates. I thought that was clumsily done.
Well before the finale it becomes pretty obvious who the real killer is, so obvious that even O. J. could figure it out. It brings the story to a successful conclusion for Scotland Yard and the new pair of lovebirds. I rather liked this one for it's atmosphere and interesting cast, and upon consideration, probably the only time you'll see Karloff and Zucco together in a non-horror film.