Lack of good storyline.

Dreadfully Boring

An absolute waste of money

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

An amateurish screenplay and some one-dimensional characterizations dominate this ridiculous thriller where a not-quite so thin man had a brief attempt (2 films in a 3 year period) at a series that never got off the ground. It all starts with the murder of a ham actor who was leading on the stepdaughter of an old flame, and that old flame's ousting by the jealous step-daughter from her father's home. Donna Reed, future Oscar Winner for "From Here to Eternity", gives an entirely too impish and testy performance, snarling as if she were preparing for an audition to play Veda in "Mildred Pierce". Ann Harding and Edward Arnold fare better but the best performance is by a German Shepherd named Friday, obviously given the role since Asta was unavailable.It's obvious from the get-go where this film is going, basically a dime store novel whose structure earned a quick read after being bought on the close-out shelves but ultimately ended up in a thrift shop once that initial read was completed. For MGM to have commissioned this as a screenplay with a cast of former "A" stars seems misguided with its preposterous story, ridiculously melodramatic writing and cartoon villains (a la Boris and Natasha) drawing groans.

Eyes in the Night (1942) *** (out of 4) A woman (Ann Harding) fears that her stepdaughter (Donna Reed) is involved with an evil man so she goes to his apartment to ask him to leave her alone. Once at the apartment she finds the man dead and the step daughter catches her there and believes that she did the killing. The mother goes to her blind detective friend (Edward Arnold) who starts to investigate and learns that German spies were behind it. This was the first of a two part series for MGM and I'm really not sure why more weren't made as both proved to be good films. This film features a very attractive cast, a nice story and some very good direction by Zinnemann, which makes this a must see for fans of detective movies. Arnold is very good in his role making it very believable that his character is actually blind. The actor plays the part very well and has good chemistry with everyone in the cast. Harding comes off quite strong as well even though her character isn't the best written in the film. Stephen McNally, Katherine Emery, Allen Jenkins and Reginald Denny all add nice supporting performances as well. Reed actually steals the show as the 17-year-old step daughter with an attitude. Her attitude is so dead pan perfect that you'll have no problem hating the young lady who thinks she knows everything. Mantan Moreland is wasted in his few scenes though. The German subplot just works itself into the story and there's never a spotlight shined on it due to WW2, which is a nice twist for this type of film. Most movies from this era beat the war stuff to death but this film stays away from that.

Fred Zinnemann's early directorial career yielded many interesting films and this is one of them. Here Zinnemann directs the young Donna Reed (who plays a character who is appallingly arrogant, spoilt and pig-headed, very convincingly), and eleven years later in 'From Here to Eternity' (1953), he would turn to her again for a part where she would win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. The main character in the film is a blind detective, Duncan Maclain, played to perfection by Edward Arnold. He has a seeing-eye dog, Friday, who responds to the most complex commands, opens doors by turning the door handles with his teeth, leaps out of basements through high windows, and does many impossible things. Dog lovers will be fascinated by this film. There are some hilarious scenes between the dog and Arnold's butler, played by Mantan Moreland, where the butler is constantly having his job taken away from him by the dog (Friday fetches his master's slippers before the butler can reach the closet, etc.) The haunted looks of Ann Harding are good for her part, her eyes dreamy and distant, her complexion pale, all good mystery stuff. There is an eerie chill cast by the excellent performance of Katherine Emery, with strong lesbian implications as she looks at Donna Reed in 'a certain way'. The scenes where Edward Arnold searches for clues in the dark, because being blind he does not need light, are highly effective. As an early wartime thriller with a certain relevance to the dangers of 'the enemy', this film avoids being hackneyed and is fresh and stands on its own, transcending any propaganda aspects. What less would be expect from Fred Zinnemann?

If you're a dog lover like me, you'll find this one hard not to like! Good old "Friday" steals this show-with some able assistance from a very keen and rugged blind man. I found this one easy to follow and it kept my interest all the way. A really neat mix of intrigue, mystery, and humor to boot. Oh...and some espionage thrown in as is per this era's thematics. The gal who plays the enemy is quite wicked! This is a murder mystery that will get you smiling! A fun and easy frolic minus a tangled plot that uses all the "senses". Oh, and a young Donna Reed.......not bad at all. This one makes Rin Tin Tin and Lassie look like amateurs!