VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** First and best of the trio of Nick Carter Detective movies directed by film noir pioneer Jacques Tourneur of "Cat People" & "Leopard Man" fame. With the handsome NY detective Walter Pidgeon as the witty and hard hitting Nick Carter in the leading role. Sent undercover to the Radex Airplane Plant Nick as aeronautical engineer Robert Chambers is hired to find out who's sneaking out blueprints of the company's most secretive aircraft that will revolutionize the airplane industry: It can actually fly!As Nick soon finds out there's a major spy ring in operation, from the usual unnamed country, at the plant that's paying off a number of the workers there to do it's bidding by sneaking out important blue prints of this new aircraft that the nutty inventor John A. Keller,Henry Hull, has come up with. A plane that can fly circles around anything,in airplanes, that's now flying up there in the wild blue yonder. There's also pretty flight attendant and part pilot Lou Farnsby, Rita Johnson, who soon takes a shine to the handsome Nick that in the end leads to something far more serious: Being held hostage by the spies to keep Nick and the local police from apprehending them. Nick soon gets help from the Bee-Man Bartholomew, Donald Meek, who's unorthodox detective tactics, that at first Nick is totally opposed to, that in the end breaks the mysterious spy case wide open. ***SPOILERS***This all leads to a spectacular car plane and boat chase by Nick and the local police and FBI agents to prevent the spies who are holding Lou hostage from escaping justice by reaching neutral Mexican waters. The highlight of the movie is the plane used in the movie that Nick, who recently got his flying incense, is in control off. By Nick not only behind the controls but at the same time using a tommy-gun to shoot it out with the fleeing spies on the high seas! Something that I think that hasn't been done before or after in films since!

Neil Doyle Walter Pidgeon is cast as detective Nick Carter, whose mission is to find out who is behind plans to steal blueprints for the enemy in this pre-WWII yarn. Rita Johnson is teamed nicely as leading lady. Her presence is so welcome that it's a wonder she never had a bigger career on screen.With a supporting cast that includes Frank Faylen, Henry Hull, Donald Meek and Stanley Ridges, it's a neat programmer that crams a lot of plot into a one hour time slot. The only sore spot is Donald Meek in his bumbling role as a bee-keeper who aids Carter. Usually a very reliable character actor, this time his role is so unlikeable, unlikely and annoying that it's more of a distraction than a help. Whatever humor is supposed to be gathered by his involvement in the plot, never quite makes its mark.But in its brief running time, this one passes the time pleasantly enough with the handsome Pidgeon marking his time at MGM before he became a big star.

krorie I totally disagree with the IMDb reviewer who panned this film. Walter Pigeon is just right as the master detective, Nick Carter. He made two more superior Nick Carter B films after this one, but then was on his way to becoming a big Hollywood star. The producers decided to can the series rather than find a suitable replacement. And the Bee man is one of the great movie characters. Donald Meek was a wonderful character actor who could play many roles and this is one of his best. He is a good comic foil for the great detective. The masterful Jacques Tourneur directs with a knowing eye. He knows exactly how to give the audience chills, excitement and mystery in an hour time slot. It was a stroke of genius for the writers to put the bee man in the Nick Carter movies. He is one of the reasons I like to watch the Nick Carter movies more than once.

bkoganbing MGM in buying the rights to the Nick Carter stories and then making three films with the character just shows the twist of fate in some people's careers.Walter Pidgeon was one of their second magnitude stars at that time. B picture leads and occasionally in an A film where he always lost the girl. Louis B. Mayer must have thought a whole slew of these would have been made for Pidgeon and he would have become identified as Nick Carter on screen. But he managed to get some decent films, two back to back Best Pictures, How Green Was My Valley and Mrs. Miniver and a lifetime partnership with Greer Garson. He escaped movie oblivion then.It's a competently executed film, but I have to agree with previous reviewers. Donald Meek as the bee man looked like he just took his zany character from You Can't Take It With You and it just didn't fit in this fast paced detective story. The film itself is barely an hour. Meek distracts from the plot. Too bad because Donald Meek is usually a fine performer.I much prefer Walter Pidgeon as the Reverend Mr. Gruffydd or Clem Miniver or even Dr. Morbius. Good thing he escaped Nick Carter.