Michael Shayne, Private Detective
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Eugene Forde
Lloyd Nolan
Marjorie Weaver
Joan Valerie
Walter Abel
Elizabeth Patterson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Hiram Brighton, the racing commissioner, hires detective Michael Shayne to watch his daughter Phyllis, a compulsive gambler, while he is away in New York. Shayne is also offered a job by Larry Kincaid to collect money from Harry Grange, a gambling racketeer who welched on a bet, but Shayne declines his offer. Soon afterward, Shayne comes face to face with Grange when he finds him feeding Phyllis money to play the roulette wheel. Shayne visits Grange's boss, Benny Gordon, the owner of the casino, and threatens to expose his crooked operation unless he returns Phyllis' losses. Shayne then escorts Phyllis home, but she returns to the casino, where she meets Elliott Thomas, the owner of the race horse Banjo Boy. Grange's continued attentions to Phyllis makes Gordon's daughter Marsha jealous, even though her father has forbidden her to see Grange. Deciding to teach Phyllis a lesson, Shayne stages Grange's death, but his plan backfires when Grange is found murdered and police captain Peter Painter suspects Shayne of the crime. Phyllis and her aunt Olivia insist on helping Shayne solve the crime, and when Phyllis finds Marsha's brooch in the car where Grange's body was discovered, Shayne pays Marsha a visit and learns that she has disappeared. Shayne then visits Gordon, where he overhears him arranging to meet Thomas at his beach house. Shayne drives to the house, followed by Phyllis, Aunt Olivia and Painter, who still suspects Shayne of murder. At the house, Phyllis is attacked by a crazed Marsha, whom she locks in the closet. Shayne then tricks Gordon into confessing that Marsha witnessed Thomas kill Grange. Shayne solves the case by explaining that Thomas killed Grange because Grange knew he had secretly substituted a horse for Banjo Boy in the big race and was blackmailing him about it.
Director
Eugene Forde
Cast
Lloyd Nolan
Marjorie Weaver
Joan Valerie
Walter Abel
Elizabeth Patterson
Donald Macbride
Douglas Dumbrille
Clarence Kolb
George Meeker
Charles Coleman
Michael Morris
Robert Emmett Keane
Frank Orth
Irving Bacon
Bob Rose
James Aubrey
Major George C. Mcbride
Ralph Dunn
Sherry Hall
Jim Pierce
Paul Kruger
Fern Emmett
Paddy O'flynn
Harold Goodwin
Dick French
Hamilton Macfadden
Cyril Ring
Don Brodie
Dick Rich
Paul Burns
Frank Mills
James Flavin
John Kellogg
Robert Conway
Crew
Lewis Creber
Richard Day
Al De Gaetano
William Eckhardt
W. D. Flick
Herschel
Harry M. Leonard
Thomas Little
Emil Newman
Manning O'connor
Stanley Rauh
George Schneiderman
Sol M. Wurtzel
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this picture was The Private Practice of Michael Shayne. It was the first in Twentieth Century-Fox's Michael Shayne series. From 1940-42, Twentieth Century-Fox produced seven films based on the Michael Shayne character created by Brett Halliday and starring Lloyd Nolan as the detective. From 1946-47, PRC produced a series of five films based the Michael Shayne character, all starring Hugh Beaumont and directed by William Beaudine. In 1960, NBC produced the Michael Shayne television series starring Richard Denning. For additional information on films featuring the Michael Shayne character, please consult the Series Index.
