User reviews

... because you'll probably need to watch this one twice to figure out exactly what is going on. However, don't let that bother you since a fine-tuned plot is not the point of this little B mystery. With every able bodied male between 18 and 40 in the armed services, WWII gave older players such as Sydney Greenstreet and normally supporting players such as the lead in this film - Jerome Cowan as detective D.L. Trees - a chance at a starring role in major studio releases.

The story has to do with a not so successful detective, Mr. Trees, and his seldom-paid secretary and semi-romantic interest, Pandora Pines, getting a visit from the reform candidate for mayor, John Rhodes. It seems that Rhodes' girlfriend has a brother - Fred - that has been in prison. The girlfriend doesn't know about Fred's record and neither do the mayor's potential voters. Fred doesn't see his record as any source of shame. Instead he sees it as a money-making opportunity, and he's been putting the bite on John Rhodes ever since he got out of jail to keep quiet about his sordid past. The final straw is when Fred shows Rhodes a crow that has been taught to say "Rhodes killed me!". Apparently Fred did it for insurance so that Rhodes doesn't kill him, realizing the growing inconvenience he has become, but Rhodes is afraid that if something does happen to Fred he'll be implicated by the talking crow. He therefore pays Trees to steal the bird. And this is only the first ten minutes.

Things get wild, wacky, and down-right preposterous from this point forward. The film is loaded with action and the kind of 40's detective story dialogue that you often see parodied but hardly ever laid on so thick in one short film of that era. As for the not-so-well-known cast, they acquit themselves marvelously. Mr. Cowan must have been studying Humphrey Bogart closely during his brief role in "The Maltese Falcon", because he is the personification of the cool-headed P.I. with questionable scruples 40's style.

I'm sure this little film helped audiences forget the seriousness of the war for a short period of time back in 1943, and I think you'll find it good escapist entertainment today.

Like the Maltese Falcon, Warner Brothers "B" detective thriller Find The Blackmailer involves a search for a black bird. Here the resemblance ends. In this case the black bird, rather than a jewel-encrusted statuette, is absurdly a talking crow, which can put the finger on the detective's client for a murder. Honestly! Not as bad as it sounds, but not Golden Era Hollywood at its best either.

The principle attractions of this picture are the unusual and charming casting of Jerome Cowan in the lead role as the tough if somewhat bumbling detective and some stylish noir cinematography by James Van Trees. Cowan is ably supported by the ever reliable Gene Lockhart as his blackmailed politician client, Margorie Hoshelle as his breezy, underpaid secretary, and second-billed Faye Emerson as a nasty femme fa-tale. The script is muddled, ridiculous, and padded out with a lot of meandering, unnecessary action. It looks as if director D. Ross Lederman was struggling to squeeze out the required 55-minute running time. If his picture had been tightly edited, it could have easily run only 40 minutes without losing anything. Dialog is cliché-ridden, but fun. Just about every wise-crack and every colorful slang term from every detective, mystery, cops-and-robbers picture from the previous decade as been gathered for recycling in Find The Blackmailer. Surly this picture was meant to be a spoof. Big hint -- the detective's name is Trees, same as the cinematographer. Or does that just mean they were making up the script as they went along? This suspicion will creep in from time to time as you watch the strange proceedings. Never mind, just relax and enjoy. You can't be expected to figure it out if it doesn't make sense. And it most assuredly does not. Cowan's character is more humorous that tough. Cowan didn't have a muscle in his body, but he still manages to get tough when needed by keeping his hand on the .32 automatic in his coat pocket. But mostly he just cracks wise and grins through his trademark pencil-line mustache.

But not so bad for all that. As yours truly has stated elsewhere about other, better second features, the big studios of Old Hollywood could turn out good-looking, entertaining pictures while only half-way trying. In Find The Blackmailer it looks as if they didn't try much at all, yet it still turned out a watchable, even enjoyable picture -- if you're in the right mood.

A nifty little "B" programmer. Reminds me of the old days when a quarter would get you a first run feature, B picture, newsreel, cartoon, and coming attractions. Jerome Cowan, (the prosecutor in Miracle on 34th Street) has always been one of my favorite support players. His wisecracking detective character holds your attention without becoming corny. The story is preposterous. A politician is being blackmailed by a shady character from his past. The key to this plot is a talking crow that has been taught to implicate the politician once the blackmailer has been killed. Are you following this? Add to this mix, a sexy actress, a couple of thugs, a crooked lawyer, etc. and you have the basic story. The dialogue pops like a machine gun. But, forget the plot, forget the story, sit back and enjoy the show.

"Find the Blackmailer" stars Jerome Cowan as D.L. Trees, a snappy-talking private eye. It's funny, but although Cowan has well over 200 credits on IMDB, he almost never starred in anything but was a supporting character actor. It's really a shame, as he was great in the film and I would like to see more performances like this. He looks like a normal everyday guy...but comes off well as the snappy private detective.

As far as the plot goes, there is the problem. Although Cowan and all the other actors did a great job, they were saddled with a silly plot...really, really silly. It seems that a new client wants Trees to find a talking crow that has been taught to say that he had murdered someone. Now perhaps I am naive, but I cannot see a crow coming in to court to testify. Fortunately, after a while the talking bird angle becomes less important when bodies start to pile up. But still...a case to find a talking crow?!

Overall, watchable but a bit silly as well. Not surprising when you consider that it's a quickie B-movie...and sometimes plot holes and silly plot devices aren't major concerns by the directors or studios.

This one stars Jerome Cowan as a private eye looking for someone who's threatening Gene Lockhart's run for mayor. It is also a minor spoof of or inside joke on THE MALTESE FALCON as it involves a black bird -- a live crow.

Cowan is a little weak as a leading man, but director Ross Lederman keeps things moving at such a good clip that it's over in less than an hour.

Jerome Cowan is a private investigator "Trees", hired by local politician John Rhodes (Gene Lockhart). The plot is pretty wacky and convoluted; There's a talking bird. and a blackmailer. and the blackmailer's girlfriend, Mona (Faye Emerson). Emerson was a bombshell actress during the 1940s, and was married to one of the Roosevelt sons, but moved to mostly television after that. Rhodes wants the PI to locate and steal the talking bird, since its words could hurt Rhodes' political carreer. Corny. but thankfully short, at about 56 minutes. The ongoing music is almost cartoon-caperish, and seldom matches the action. Directed by Ross Lederman. odd.. imdb has him married to Doris, but on wikipedia, he's married to June. The lawyer is played by Mark Kent; was a prize fighter who moved into films, but died quite young at 46. "Blackmailer" moves right along, it's all very okay. the writers try to highlight the clever bickering and banter between Trees and his assistant, but it doesn't really work... there just isn't much chemistry there.

"Find the Blackmailer" is a Warner Brothers comedy mystery that probably was made to capitalize on the string of such films that were highly successful with other studios. Among those were MGM's "Thin Man" of 1934 and its several sequels that carried past the mid-1940s. Some others were Philo Vance and Boston Blackie films that had different stars over the years, and were made by different studios. But this isn't of the caliber of the Thin Man series and its star roles that William Powell and Myrna Loy owned.

Jerome Cowan as private-eye D. L. Trees, and his secretary, Pandora Pines (played by Marjorie Hoshelle) can't match the acting of Powell and Loy. And the writing and screenplay here are definitely second tier. But Cowan and Hoshelle give it their best, and the film is at least entertaining. Even with some plot holes and guess work that doesn't gel with what the audience sees.

One interesting faux pas I noticed in this film is when Trees discovers the body of the murder victim. He then kneels down and proceeds to touch and handle various things - a broken lightbulb by its base, a drink glass, the coffee table. That's a no-no at a crime scene that Powell's Nick Charles and any savvy private-eye would never do. Well, as I said, it's a second-rate job all around.

Here's my favorite exchange of dialog in this film.

D. L. Trees, "Oh, don't bother me. I'm thinking." Pandora Pines, his secretary and girlfriend, "Uh, uh. You just think you're thinking." Trees, "If you really wanna know, I'm thinking how I'm gonna pay your salary." Pandora, "I have it. I'll lend you the money." Trees, "That ain't funny, Magee. Now be quiet. I'm listening to the radio."

The last time Jerome Cowan got tangled up with a blackbird in a film it was The Maltese Falcon. Any resemblance to this film and that classic it's just an accident.

Like in Maltese Falcon, Cowan is playing a detective who is hired by Gene Lockhart to find a talking pet crow. Who has heard and memorized the fact that Lockhart has killed someone and now speaks it. Lockhart is in politics and can't afford a scandal.

The guy that Lockhart thinks took the bird is dead. In less than an hour Cowan has the case wrapped.

I think the brothers Warner gave the audience the bird.

Politician Gene Lockhart is being blackmailed, so he enlists the help of the most unknown detective (to keep it quiet and out of the news) to get him out of the scrape. Enter Jerome Cowan (Bogart's murdered partner in "The Maltese Falcon"), who has a very likable disposition as a unscrupulous and somewhat sleazy detective. It seems they need a crow that repeats what it hears and it heard the last words of a murdered man, implicating Gene Lockhart. Through a series of twists and turns and interrogations of suspects and run-ins with hoodlums, Jerome tries to get at the truth. What begins very pleasantly and simply turns very complicated quickly with some zippy and witty one-liners. This film was in fact very funny, and by the end I think you'll feel thoroughly satisfied. There's even a twist that you don't see coming. Or do you? Whatever the means to get his man, Jerome Cowan as D.L. Trees earns his money and gives you a good time for a little over an hour. Good job, big guy!

Find the Blackmailer (1943)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

"B" mystery from Warner has Detective Trees (Jerome Cowan) being hired by John Rhodes (Gene Lockhart), a man getting ready to run for Mayor but he finds himself being blackmailed. It turns out that Rhodes threatened to kill his blackmailer and it was overhead by a crow (!?!) who might be evidence if the man ends up being killed. So the detective must now try to track down not only the crow but soon others are getting in on the mystery. The story to this short never makes any sense but I guess one should expect that since the entire thing is solved in a very short 55-minutes. Most of these "B" mysteries were very short in regards to running time but this one here can't even crack the hour mark but this here is probably a good thing since the story doesn't make much sense and I'm sure had it gone on any longer then it really would have lost its entertainment value. I think for the most part this is a pleasant enough of a film so fans of the genre will at least be caught up in the rather bizarre story. There are so many obvious questions that will pop up in your head including how much evidence any court would take from the eyewitness being a talking crow. I mean, do you really think this talking bird would get someone convicted? Even sillier is how everyone appears to be coming up with their own ideas on who the killer is and what motive he/she must have. For the most part Cowan does a nice job in the lead as he's dorky enough to where you can believe he's this detective that no one wants and the actor also has some nice comic timing that comes in handy. Lockhart is terrific as usual and we get a nice performance from Faye Emerson playing one of the bad guys. The entire detective/bird thing will obviously have film buffs thinking of THE MALTESE FALCON and sure enough Cowan had a brief part in that Bogart classic. He must have payed close attention on how to play a detective and while the end results are far from a classic, this movie at least will keep you entertained if you have an hour to kill.

I agree with howdymax on this one. The plot is fairly nonsensical, but the lead characters' snappy dialogue and quick-moving running time make for a very enjoyable time. Plus, there's a certain amount of joy I feel when I discover a film I've never heard of (directed by some guy I've never heard of) on TCM early on a lazy Saturday morning. Know whatimean