EyesintheNight

Eyes in the Night (1942)

Okay I’m a sucker for old detective movies and this is one better ones that I’ve run across. Duncan 'Mac' Maclain is called in by an old friend of the family after it appears that she might be accused of killing a man from her past that was romancing her stepdaughter. The stepdaughter is blackmailing the woman and is trying to force her to leave her father. She is the jealous type see. Anyway before you know it Mac is up to his eyeballs in more bodies, Nazi spies (after the stepfather’s latest invention), and attempts on his life. The big twist here is that while Mac is an excellent detective, he is also blind and it is up to him and his Seeing Eye dog Friday to save the day and stop the Nazi spies. Truth is I’m an even bigger sucker for a movie that has the dog as a hero.

Okay so this is a different kind of movie than what we normally review here at Gutmunchers.com. But I enjoy these old detective movies, so I’m going to review it! The story here is fun and keeps enough twists and turns coming to hold the audience’s attention. Though being made in 1942 I knew the moment the credits rolled that there were going to be either German or Japanese spies somewhere around. But this didn’t bother me in the slightest. These movies aren’t meant to be anything more than simple escapist entertainment where the good guys win and everything is right with the world when the credits roll. Heck even the evil stepdaughter has learned the errors of her ways by the end of the movie and their blended family is going to live happily ever after. After watching some of the horror and exploitation movies I do this was sort of nice to see.

The cast is really good. I hadn’t heard of, nor recognized Edward Arnold before seeing this movie. He does a wonderful job in the role of Maclain, not only playing a blind man, but then later on a drunk. The guy had some serious acting chops and was given something to work with here. A very young Donna Reed does a great job as the spoiled stepdaughter who is completely hateful and nasty throughout. Finally in a small part as Maclain’s butler (of course) is the underrated Mantan Moreland. I’ve said it in other reviews, and I’ll say it here again. His brand of humor might not play well with modern audiences because of the stereotype his playing on (he is an African American actor), but he steals every scene he is in. I’ve watched so many poverty row studio pictures full of white actors that no one remembers only to see Moreland do his thing. He is great here again, though gets a bit upstaged by the dog, but then everyone one does.

This is an excellent example of what you can get from a “B” picture from a major studio, in this case MGM, when there is a bit of talent behind it. I really recommend that everyone check this movie out. It can be had cheaply on several of the budget releases from the fine folks over at Mill Creek Entertainment. Check out there website at http://www.millcreekent.com/ for more information.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer