I Killed That Man

I Killed That Man is a fun mystery tale. Nick is a criminal facing execution. With nothing else to lose he decides to name the man that is behind his crime. A poisoned dart stops him but alerts the investigators to the existence of someone with deadly secrets, someone who can kill a man in a prison cell surrounded by witnesses.

DA Phillips begins investigating with everyone in attendance for the execution being suspect. His reporter girlfriend Geri decides to launch her own investigation. Surely one or the other of them will be able to catch a killer!

This is an entertaining mystery with a sense of humor. A couple of the characters crack me up, and while the romantically charged banter between the legal investigator and the female reporter (was there no such thing as a male reporter in the 30's?) is cliché, it's amusing.

I believe this is considered to be amongst the poverty row suspense films of the 30's-40's. It does seem low budget, somewhat hard to believe, and a bit corny, but I would rank it above a lot of other similar films from that time.

The mystery, as usual, is not Dyle or Christie level writing. Just the same it's marginally more interesting than the standard mystery movie plot from its time. The characters are amusing even if they aren't necessarily always realistic, and the humor gets laughs instead of groans out of me.

The acting is fair with Ricardo Cortez and Joan Woodbury leading. These two pretty much carry the movie, and do well enough that they make up for the lack in some of the smaller parts.

MORALITY:

Typical of these old black-and-white films there is virtually nothing questionable. We're dealing with murder, of course, but we see no graphic violence. You could see worse in a stage play.

There is no sexuality, nudity, or strong language.

SPIRITUALITY:

This is a mystery that doesn't delve into anything substantially spiritual.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

As old mystery flicks go I'd say this is one worth checking out if you don't mind the dated quality.