Double Exposure (1944)

William Pine and William Thomas -- Paramount's B producers who took sturdy projects and turned out decent movies on modest budgets, earning them the appellation of "The Dollar bills" -- have a fine one-hour flick in this movie. Nancy Kelly gets a photography gig at a New York magazine, with wolfish Chester Morris as her boss; she totes along would-be fiancé Philip Terry, claiming he is her brother, to stand off Morris. She's smart, hard-working and they gradually fall in love, with many a quip, when a murdered woman pops up -- and it looks exactly like the picture of Miss Kelly that she posed for the magazine; her alibi is Mr. Terry, but he's been shipped out on a convoy to Russia and lost at sea.Richard Gaines is along as the health-nut publisher, and there are a lot of good gags for the first three-quarters of the picture, until the murder mystery takes over. Dewey Robinson as a cab driver also has a few good lines.

By the humble standards of the Two Dollar Bills (i.e. producers Bill Pine and Bill Thomas), this is a really entertaining little offering in which an able cast led by Chester Morris (the magazine editor), Nancy Kelly (the freelance photographer), Richard Gaines (the exercise-conscious publisher), Philip Terry (the freelance's boyfriend) and Charles Arnt (a millionaire of the marrying kind) mix comedy, romance and a murder mystery with most entertaining results. The bright screenplay by Winston Miller and Maxwell Shane only takes one wrong turn that is a bit hard to swallow. Fortunately, it occurs near the end of the movie. If it disturbs them at all, most viewers will regard it as nothing more than a momentary lapse. The direction by William Berke consistently rates far above his usual pedestrian standard. The pace and timing of his players – particularly in the comedy scenes with Richard Gaines – are especially effective. Some viewers may feel that the murder mystery plot has been short-changed in the interests of comedy and romance, but I felt that aside from the overly dramatic plot twist I mentioned earlier, the movie offered consistently bright entertainment. Available on many DVDs. Alpha's print is excellent.

Double Exposure casts Chester Morris as the editor of a photo journalistic magazine called Flick who on the strong suggestion of the owner Richard Gaines hires Nancy Kelly as a new staff photographer. Chet likes her, but she comes as a package deal along with Philip Terry whom she says is her brother.The film is from the budget school of Pine-Thomas who did the B films for Paramount. It moves at a nice clip and abruptly changes from comedy to murder mystery as Kelly is arrested for the murder of Jane Farrar the latest in a long line of wives for playboy Charles Arnt. Arnt's been giving Kelly the three times over and wouldn't mind adding her as yet another trophy wife.The editor part fits Morris well and it was a break though not much of one from Boston Blackie. Farrar until she turned up dead was one hot tempered wife who was not in a mood for explanations. It's part of what gets her killed. Gaines is also memorable as the boss who makes all his employees take part in his physical fitness regimen.Not a bad film as a second feature, probably to some Crosby or Hope film Paramount was featuring in 1944.

Larry (Chester Morris) hires photographer Pat (Nancy Kelly) for his magazine. They fall in love but there is a problem - her boyfriend Ben (Phillip Terry) back home. At first, as an excuse to fend off any advance from Larry, Pat pretends that Ben is her brother and that he is staying with her. The situation is made worse when Ben actually turns up and is forced to go along with the charade for the sake of Pat's job. This makes for a good comedy scene at a nightclub where Ben is given another date, Mavis (Roma Aldrich) to whom he shows absolutely no interest. Larry discovers the deceit just as a murder is committed and Pat is to stand trial for the crime. It's all in Larry's hands.....This is a quick moving comedy that throws us a mystery towards the end. There are many good scenes and the dialogue is funny. The whole cast perform well in this enjoyable, tongue-in-cheek story and it is worth keeping onto to watch again. One criticism is the quality of the film. It's a story about the publishing business and it's no surprise to learn that photos were being faked to sell newspapers in those days just as they are today (especially on the fashion pages!). In this instance, they are even faked to solve a crime.