Composer Keith Vincent is writing a song on the piano by himself when he's shoot to death. The cops believe it to be a suicide. Detective Joe Warne is not sold and investigates on his own. The housemaid Susan Flanders claims to be sleeping in the other room with ear plugs and heard nothing. One cop suspects her to be a con woman named Annabelle from another case. Joe finds the words "For Dolores" written on the music sheet for Keith's new song Nocturne. The womanizing Keith seemed obsessed with Dolores and often calls his women by that name. Joe tracks down the women from their pictures on Keith's wall.
This is a solid noir police drama. It's got the hardboiled style and George Raft is fine as the lead. It would be nice to have a darker edge to his character. I'm unimpressed with the mystery. It seems like a parade of women. The story needs more time to work the clues and I don't know about the elderly mother playing around with his gun. It's a bit too comedic and almost slapstick. This was produced by long-time Hitchcock acolyte Joan Harrison and it certainly tries to have many of the Hitchcockian touches. Somehow, the edges are not as sharp and the flow is a little muddled. In a way, it's like a second tier work from the student of a master.
This is a solid noir police drama. It's got the hardboiled style and George Raft is fine as the lead. It would be nice to have a darker edge to his character. I'm unimpressed with the mystery. It seems like a parade of women. The story needs more time to work the clues and I don't know about the elderly mother playing around with his gun. It's a bit too comedic and almost slapstick. This was produced by long-time Hitchcock acolyte Joan Harrison and it certainly tries to have many of the Hitchcockian touches. Somehow, the edges are not as sharp and the flow is a little muddled. In a way, it's like a second tier work from the student of a master.