a5c7b9f00b (1937) Walter McGrail, Irving Pichel, Queenie Smith, Donald Reed. A fine poverty row thriller. Agent K-7 finds himself knee-deep in a murder mystery at a posh nightclub run by a mobster. Pichel is great as the smooth-talking lawyer with gangland ties. Who done it? Lots of guys in cool suits, gorgeous dames, and gangland patter. There's even a nifty musical number. 16mm.
A gangster Eddie Geller who runs a night club is acquitted for a crime but then is murdered and one of his patrons is accused of the murder. The accused man's reporter girlfriend Ollie O'Dea, a smooth lawyer Lester Owens and Special Agent K-7 himself Vincent 'Lanny' Landers try to help him in his fight for his innocence. Other murders occur until the (literally) shattering conclusion. It's not a bad low budget film though it doesn't rise above the routine.<br/><br/>Walter McGrail as special agent K-7 isn't that special but Irving Pichel as the clever lawyer is good. Queenie Smith is also fine as the worried reporter Ollie, They would all shine if the script was better written, more hard boiled. The director Bernard B. Ray (billed as Raymond K. Johnson)) mainly worked on westerns. <br/><br/>Easy to watch then but easy to forget.
From 1929 to the early 1950s, thousands of cheap movies were made in what was then known as Hollywood's Poverty Row. I saw a good number of those growing up in the 1940s and early 1950s – especially Westerns, with some gangster, monster and sci-fi flicks. Those were shown at the Saturday matinées for kids. We usually saw double-headers in the theater. We had a dime to go to the movies. It cost 9¢ to get in and the last penny bought us a small bag of popcorn. By the mid-1950s, I was working weekends for my dad's business and had grown out of the kids' matinées. TV was becoming widespread by then, and the Saturday matinées didn't last much longer. The price of admission with a bag of popcorn then was 15¢.<br/><br/>The mystery, crime, horror and other Poverty Row movies in those days competed with the bigger films and were shown at night. When we consider the output of the major studios over several decades, it's a wonder that any of those lesser studio products survive today. Most likely, many of them don't. But those that do usually survive for one of three reasons. They may have a good screenplay or interesting plot. They may have big name stars in their early years and before they made it big. Or they may have become cult films. <br/><br/>This movie, "Special Agent K-7" survives for the first reason – an interesting and intriguing story. Period. The best of the acting is just so-so, and some of it gives the hint that it was a no-rehearsal, one- take shoot. The script, directing, cinematography and editing are poor. Most of the technical qualities also suffer. <br/><br/>The story is interesting enough that I wonder if a bigger studio might not have picked it up later, copied it, or done a remake with a top cast and production.