Pat O’Brien

Claire Trevor

Herbert Marshall

Ray Collins

Wallace Ford

Dean Harens

Damian O'Flynn

Erskine Sanford

Mary Ware

Alex Akimoff

John Ardell

Gertrude Astor

Al Bain

Guy Beach

Edward Biby

Bonnie Blair

Robert Bray

George Bruggeman

James Carlisle

Jack Cheatham

Ellen Corby

Delmar Costello

Roger Creed

Kernan Cripps

Lee Elson

Franklyn Farnum

Carl Faulkner

J.C. Fowler

Edward Gargan

Jack Gargan

Rudy Germane

Belle Green

Chuck Hamilton

Alvin Hammer

Carl Hansen

Harry Harvey

Alf Haugan

Al Hill

Fred Hueston

John Ince

John Indrisano

Gloria Jetter

Tiny Jones

Joseph Kamaryt

Colin Kenny

King Lockwood

Sam Lufkin

Sam McDaniel

Charles Meakin

Chef Milani

Harry Monty

Frank Moran

Philip Morris

Horace Murphy

Tommy Noonan

Jimmy O'Gatty

Eddie Parks

Bob Pepper

Rose Plumer

John Roy

Dick Rush

Shimen Ruskin

Dick Ryan

Jeffrey Sayre

Frank Shannon

Harry Shannon

Cap Somers

Tex Swan

Eric Wilton

Dorothea Wolbert

Ray Spencer

Ben Bengal

Fredric Brown

Jack J. Gross

Leigh Harline

Robert De Grasse

John Paxton

Irving Reis

Darrell Silvera

Michael Ohrenbach

Russell A. Cully

Albert S. D'Agostino

Renié

Jack Okey

James H. Anderson

Thriller

Mystery

Crack-Up

RKO Radio Pictures

United States of America

CinemaSerf

If only Irving Reis had cast his net a bit wider when casting his leading man, here - then we could have ended up with a quality, sophisticated crime drama. Sadly, he didn't and we are stuck with a really quite dreary performance from Pat O'Brien as "George", an art critic who finds himself caught up in a train crash (or was it!?) and a well planned, psychologically driven, plot involving art fraud after he had suggested that modern day X-ray techniques be used to verify the authenticity of old masters on loan to a museum - including a Gainsborough and a Dürer. Luckily for him, Claire Trevor "Terry" and Herbert Marshall ("Traybin") are on hand to get to the bottom of it. At times it's quite gripping, and the intricacies of the plot - and of the manipulation it suggests, are clever and quite original but it's far too long, and the sagging in the middle is almost hammock-like. Still, the use of sound is effective and the film is certainly worth catching up with with some tea and a bit of carrot cake.

English