Strange Bargain (1949)

Because it's only 68 minutes and has no Big stars or director, it's a B film, but it's better than many an A film that it shared billing with. The story, though lacking suspense, is engrossing, and Lynn, Scott, and Morgan are superb. The best part of the movie for me was seeing suburban family life in 1949. Lynn and Scott are happily married and have 2 happy children. Scott volunteers at church and Lynn says grace before meals. But their happy home is threatened because Lynn's salary is insufficient to support a wife and 2 school-age children. Scott tells Lynn to ask for a raise, after all, he's been with the company for 12 years (he didn't serve 4 years in WW2?) The option of Scott getting a job occurs to neither of them, but then, this was years before the feminist revolution.The script is excellent. Dialogue supports characterization so that we 'know' all of these people. I liked Lynn. He's a decent man, one who on the spur of the moment makes the wrong choice. His mistake in judgment ensnares him in a tightening web of trouble. I liked Scott, who exemplifies the perfect mate. I liked Morgan, who always gets his man, but who makes sure that he gets the right one. The ending is a surprise, though once revealed, seems obvious. I liked the director's touch at the finish of having Morgan's cane disarm the murderer just in the nick of time. In fact, I liked everything about this little B film.

A financially struggling family man (Jeffry Lynn) gets involuntarily involved in the apparent suicide of his boss (Richard Gaines), a failure as a business man, who has lost all of his inheritance, and whose accounting firm is rapidly going bankrupt. When his body is found in the library of his swank Beverly Hills mansion, it looks like a murder, which is what Gaines supposedly wanted, in order for his life insurance money to go to his social-climbing wife (Katherine Emory), whose performance is worth watching, and son. The strong point of the film is Lynn's character's anguish, now leading a double life of sorts as he has to keep everything a secret from his wife (Martha Scott) and two kids. His performance is not half bad, and makes watching the film worth the effort. Henry Morgan's part as a tough wounded WW2 vet and now a star LAPD detective who walks around with a cane is undermined by too many one-liners, although he and Lynn's son (Michael Chapin) make a few references to the gas chamber, letting us know what whoever does get caught will be facing.

For any Murder She Wrote fans, this movie may be familiar. It was the main feature for an episode entitled 'The Days Dwindle Down', aired in April of 1987. Jeffrey Lynn, Harry Morgan and Martha Scott resurrected their roles for the episode. I have yet to see the movie, however after seeing this episode, I am now intrigued to see what the movie was actually like.

A sedate thriller built upon the insecurities of the newly emergent white-collar class, Strange Bargain offers solid production values and brisk direction. Jeffrey Lynn (who looks like a solution of Ray Milland and Bruce Bennett) is a hard-working family man who earns his keep as an accountant. One morning when the milk bill comes due he screws up his courage to ask for a raise; when he does, his boss tells him that the firm's at the brink of bankruptcy, and lets him go. But wait -- there's more! The boss plans to kill himself but make it look like murder so his wife can collect the insurance; for helping, he offers Lynn $10-grand. Lynn tries to prevent the suicide but arrives too late, finding his boss already dead. Enter a police detective (Harry Morgan) whose instincts tell him all is not as it seems (not only to him, but to us as well). Morgan aside, you're not likely to recognize any of the cast, but the story works itself out neatly and holds your interest. Too polite and middle-class to be true noir, Strange Bargain nontheless delivers what it promises.