Vashirdfel
Simply A Masterpiece
SnoReptilePlenty
Memorable, crazy movie
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Prismark10
X Marks the Spot is a pleasant but uninteresting B movie with nice leads. However it is a predictable thriller which is notable for featuring actor Neil Hamilton who would go on to play Commissioner Gordon in the Batman tv series.Eddie Delaney is a private eye who is about to be commissioned to the US army. He meets his dad in a cafe, a veteran police sergeant. Later on his dad is killed when he sees some suspicious people at a warehouse. The bad guys were planning to steal two trucks to sell tyres on the black market.Eddie is persuaded by lieutenant William Decker to work with the police to find out who killed his father. However at each turn Eddie finds that potential witnesses have died before he could speak to them. Soon Eddie is wanted for murder and he needs to clear his name.An unpretentious quickie with a twist that is easy to predict.
Joseph Scott
If you tend to like minor B-movies of the '40s, this is definitely one to see. Male lead Damian O'Flynn as a tough private detective and female lead Helen Parrish as a younger friend of his who tries to make sure her hero doesn't get hurt both have charisma. The editing never gets slow, and the script is delightfully jam-packed with classic cliché lines of the movies and of the era, but serving a watchable story.Neil Hamilton, eventually of the Batman TV series, is effective in one of the supporting roles. Gaspere Biondolillo plays his usual straightforward heavy. The print available on the inexpensive Alpha DVD is good.
Paularoc
I have a fondness for B detective movies from the 1940s. While this isn't a great one, it is an entertaining one worth a watch. A private detective, Eddie Delaney, has just been commissioned a Lieutenant in the Army and has to report for duty in three days. Delaney's father is an Irish cop who is murdered by gangsters who have just stolen a truck loan of tires. Rubber was a big black market item during World War II. The gangster, Marty Clark, is played by Jack LaRue ( who made a career of playing gangsters) who was a big time booze runner during prohibition who avoided prison because he always paid his income tax. Clark owns a night club called 'The Spot.' Delaney finds out that Clark was responsible for his father's murder and when Clark is murdered, Delaney becomes the number one suspect. Delaney then must find the real murderer and the ringleader of the rubber heisting gang. One of the most interesting things about the movie was its depiction of a central music exchange operation where, for a nickel, people could call the exchange and order a particular song to be played through the exchange's juke box. The discovery of the ringleader of the gang wasn't really much of a surprise since the two most likely candidates had already been murdered. It was nice seeing Anne Jeffrey's in one of her very early credited roles. This movie is a pleasant way to spend an hour.
dbborroughs
The cop father of a private detective is killed when he stumbles on a criminal enterprise. The private detective decides to investigate the case in the three days left to him before he goes into the army. Much better then it sounds crime drama is a breezy little film, it runs under an hour. With nary a pause once the film gets up and running this is a darkly comedic film about a criminal organization that seems to be harking back to prohibition days. The veteran cast including Dick Purcell and Niel Hamilton really sell the story to the point that I misdirected as to what was going on. This is a superior little film thats worth popping in to the DVD player should you happen to rent or buy it. (Leave a comment)
