Last Monday, TCM showed a series of B-movies--most were from long running series. There were three Philo Vance films with three different actors in the lead role, four Perry Mason movies with three different leads, a Doctor Kildare feature, and two miscellaneous reporter films. I caught bits and pieces of many of these films, but I watched The Famous Ferguson Case in full.
A prominent financier in an upstate New York town is murdered, and a horde of New York City descend on the town like a swarm of locusts. The banker's wife is tied up and tells the police of burglars, but the reporters don't buy her story. They're aware of her friendship with a local banker and believe this is a crime of passion, and that's what they report. Joan Blondell stars as one of the NYC reporters.
Oddly enough, I recently watched another film--Back in Circulation--with Joan Blondell as a reporter. Both films portray reporters badly. They just want a juicy story regardless of the truth. And both films have a few good reporters such as Joan Blondell in Back in Circulation. In The Famous Ferguson Case, it's the small town reporter who cracks the case.
Overall, it's an unrealistic film, but kind of fun for an old-movie buff like me.
No comments:
Post a Comment