Nine Lives Are Not Enough

Ronald Reagan is fine as a quick-thinking, high energy newspaper reporter looking for a scoop and investigating a murder.

A fun cast of supporting actors includes Edward Brophy as a dim-witted cop and James Gleason as his perpetually exasperated superior officer. Howard Da Silva is also good as Reagan's blustery city editor.

The plot involves a missing rich guy who turns up dead in a locked boarding house bedroom. Reagan is on the track of the killers--gangster Ben Welden and his henchmen, who happen to live next door. The victim's beautiful daughter, Joan Perry, is impressed by Reagan's efforts; meanwhile, rival reporter Charles Drake keeps trying to muscle in on Reagan's scoop.

It's all pretty standard stuff but the dialog is not bad and the plot moves right along. The entire cast is good, with Reagan talking fast and flashing that winning grin.