Private Detective

Jane Wyman is a private detective about testify in a custody case. When the wife is suspected of killing her husband, Wyman finds herself working on the case, and tangling with police detective detective Dick Foran, who is also handling the case.

It's a late-1930s Warners B from Bryan Foy's unit, which means it is more distinguished for its short length (it clocks in at fifty-five minutes) and fast talk, rather than much in the way of cinematic excellence. Cinematographer Ted McCord has some fun with shadows from Venetian blinds, but the principal pleasure is Jane Wyman, in her late-1930s persona of blonde hair and wide eyes. Usually she was a delightful ditz in comedy, but here as a hard-nosed gumshoe, she wrangles nicely with Foran as she keeps trying to help him move away from the wrong track he's on.