Thu 3 Jul 2014
Movie Review: NO HANDS ON THE CLOCK (1941).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[4] Comments
NO HANDS ON THE CLOCK. Paramount Pictures, 1941. Chester Morris, Jean Parker, Rose Hobart, Dick Purcell, Astrid Allwyn, Rod Cameron, Lorin Raker, Billie Seward, George Watts, James Kirkwood, Robert Middlemass. Based on the novel by Geoffrey Homes (Daniel Mainwaring). Director: Frank McDonald.
Given a little more in the way of production values, including some time to tinker with and upgrade the screenplay itself, this obscure little B-mystery could could have had a future. Chester Morris and Jean Parker play a couple of newly-marrieds in Reno, Nevada — he the well-known private detective Humphrey Campbell — whose honeymoon is interrupted and taken over by a few murders and a host of beautiful women as suspects, in all varieties: a redhead, a blonde and a brunette.
Missing is the son of a wealthy rancher, and Oscar Flack (George Watts), Humphrey’s boss, is no one to turn down a big fee only because his star employee is on vacation. And since the incentive he offers is a fur coat to Mrs. Campbell, Humphrey cannot turn it down, nor can he persuade his beautiful bride to keep her nose out of his business. Especially when all of the women in the case are good-looking. (See above.)
If you were to go online and look for other reviews of this comedy adventure of a movie, you’d find that everyone one of them is going to tell you how complicated the plot is, nor are they exaggerating. The pairing of Morris and Parker is delightful, and the comedy is mostly fine (I could have done without the dumb policeman), but if you can make sense of the mystery part of the story the first time through, or even the second, you’re a better person than I.
I should point out that the version I saw on an Oldies.com DVD may be five minutes shorter than both IMDb and AFI say it should be, and if so, that might make a big difference. I have a feeling that what the makers of this movie wanted to do was put everything in that was in the original book, and it just couldn’t be done, whether in 71 minutes or 76. [FOOTNOTE.]
In any case, there was no chance for a series to have developed from this as a first one, if ever there was one in mind. Chester Morris immediately went on to bigger and better things as Boston Blackie, while Jean Parker, alas, had to settle for two later films as Kitty O’Day, which I also have on DVD and after watching this one I duly intend to watch any day now.
FOOTNOTE: As it turns out, the video copy I discovered on YouTube (see above) does have some if not all of the missing footage, all from the beginning. It is extremely helpful in making sense of much of what follows, but not all. I guess you get what you pay for.
July 3rd, 2014 at 5:00 pm
Chester Morris, an absolutely marvelous, and attractive actor, played the lead in Three Godfathers (1936) with Lewis Stone and Walter Brennan in support. Seldom seen, it is the go to version and surpasses John Ford’s fine 1948 retelling with John Wayne in the Morris part. Not to be missed and available on a two-disc package from Warner Archive that includes an even earlier version, Hell’s Heroes, directed by William Wyler, with Charles Bickford and Raymond Hatton featured.
July 3rd, 2014 at 6:34 pm
I agree about Morris and the Three Godfathers (the religious symbolism of the Ford version and studied attempt to compose the film like a classical painting ultimately becoming to heavy handed for the simple story). I was pleasantly surprised how tight and how intelligent the Morris version was, and it became my favorite take on the story (originally Peter B. Kyne isn’t it?).
Morris was more than a reliable leading man, and gave a fine performance late in his life in The Great White Hope. There is a good and highly flattering interview with him from late in his career in Jon Tuska’s The Detective Story (an equally good — and funny — one with Lloyd Nolan too).
Though to be honest Boston Blackie was a downturn in his acting career, a demotion to B programmers that did extend his career, but also trapped him in the role. Prior to that he had been a leading man in many A pictures and played opposite stars like Harlow.
Ironically, just Tuesday I saw two good old ones with him, one a mystery I have posted a review of to Steve, and the other an action film set in Central America with he and Richard Dix rivals for plantation owner Lucille Ball. Morris and Lucy also appearing in what many consider the finest B film ever made, John Farrow’s Five Came Back.
I can’t think of the name, and I don’t want to IMDb it right now, but he also did a good little film about pilots in the South American Andes, sort of a low budget Only Angels Have Wings.
There is another attempt at a Humphrey Campbell series with Jerome Cowan and Jane Wyman (Crime By Night)that is quite entertaining and not quite this complex. Like Jonathan Latimer Homes (Daniel Mainwaring) didn’t come out of the pulps and his hardboiled books like Latimer’s often have a more traditional mystery element. Kurt Steel’s Hank Heyer and Halliday’s Michael Shayne were also less pulp creations (all had limited pulp appearances mostly as reprints)and more likely to feature in traditional mystery plots. Mainwaring, also like Latimer, had success as a screen writer.
I’ve seen the extra footage and it does help more than a little with the plot.
This had to have been pretty early in Rod Cameron’s career too, not long after he was promoted from Buck Jones stand in and stunt man to actor.
July 3rd, 2014 at 7:57 pm
You can find my review of CRIME BY NIGHT here:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=1535
I liked it well enough, better than this one, I think, but the more I think about it, I do like this one as well.
I do wish CLOCK had been done with a little more skill at the helm, or that the guys in charge had had a little more budget to work with.
And yes, all in all, I do agree that Boston Blackie was a step down for Morris.
July 3rd, 2014 at 8:01 pm
PS. David mentioned a review that he just sent me. It’s of MOONLIGHT MURDER, a murder mystery from 1936 with Chester Morris and Madge Evans that recently showed up on TCM. I’ll post it here tomorrow, or if not, the next day.