Sunday, August 9 - A Tragedy at Midnight

A Tragedy at Midnight (1942)

This Republic murder mystery starts with a radio broadcast by Greg Sherman who solves cases on the air that the local police cannot solve. As he names the perpetrator of a recent murder we see the criminal, who is listening to the show, become alarmed and start to make his escape. The scene shifts to the police department where the chief, fearing for his job, assigns officers to get something, anything, on Sherman and get him off the air.

Meanwhile, Greg and his pretty wife Beth are parting company. He's going to a party and she's going to visit her pregnant sister in the hospital. The next morning Greg wakes up and nudges his sleeping wife. When she doesn't respond, he pulls off the covers and finds not his wife but a strange woman, dead and with the murder knife still sticking up out of her back.

While he's still recovering from the shock, Beth walks into the bedroom. Thinking that she has discovered her husband with another woman, she leaves and calls the police. The police are delighted of course, but Greg escapes as they are arresting him. Now he must solve the mystery by himself.

(Apparently, Jim the reviewer fell asleep at this point, because Sherman doesn't actually have to solve the mystery by himself; he and his wife get back together and solve it together. I fell asleep a bit later, so I can't report on anything beyond this point, either.)

Saturday, August 8 - They Made Me a Killer

They Made Me a Killer (1946)

After his brother is killed in an accident, Tom Durling quits his job and drives across country. He gives an attractive girl a ride and is subsequently forced at gun point to be the driver in a bank robbery. During the crime another innocent man, Steve Reynolds, is involved and killed in the escape. After a high-speed chase, the car crashes and Durling is knocked unconscious. The bandits get away, the police arrest Durling and refuse to believe that he isn't one of the robbers.

Durling escapes the police then later teams with Reynolds' sister in an attempt to prove his innocence. The trail leads to a small roadside diner where the two end up finding the gang hiding out in the building's basement. They go undercover, she as a waitress and Durling joining the gang. In the end, they trick the criminals into confessing their crimes. Durling's reputation is saved, and the criminals, led by a Ma Barker-type mom, get shot up.

Friday, August 7 - Ghost Squad: Still Waters

Ghost Squad: Still Waters (Season 1 Episode 7 - aired Oct 21, 1961)

The jewels from a series of robberies around the world are known to be sent to Amsterdam to be recut before being sold on. Craig joins the organisation as a diamond cutter.

Thursday, August 6 - The Long Night

The Long Night (1947)

The narrative unfolds through an intricate web of flashbacks—and even flashbacks within flashbacks. The story centers on Joe Adams, a WWII veteran and factory worker who shoots and kills a dapper, mysterious traveling magician named Maximilian. Following the shooting, Joe barricades himself inside his third-floor apartment as police surround the building. Pinned inside during the overnight siege, Joe reflects on the tragic twists of fate and overlapping love triangles that drove him to murder, specifically involving a naive young woman and a worn-out showgirl.

Wednesday, August 5 - Frankenstein

Frankenstein (1931)

This iconic horror film follows the obsessed scientist Dr. Henry Frankenstein as he attempts to create life by assembling a creature from body parts of the deceased. Aided by his loyal misshapen assistant, Fritz, Frankenstein succeeds in animating his monster, but it escapes into the countryside and begins to wreak havoc. Frankenstein searches for the elusive being and eventually must confront his tormented creation.

Monday, August 3 - The Streets of San Francisco: Death and the Favored Few

The Streets of San Francisco: Death and the Favored Few (Season 2 Episode 23 - aired Mar 14, 1974)

Stone and Keller investigate the murder of a society publisher whose method was to coerce subscriptions from wealthy clients by blackmailing them. The investigation leads the detective to a wealthy woman and her daughter, who were among the ones being blackmailed and who still have secrets to hide.

Sunday, August 2 - Mannix: The Silent Cry

Mannix: The Silent Cry (Season 2 Episode 1 - aired Sep 28, 1968)

Mannix has finally quit the detective agency for good and is out on his own. Mannix encounters a deaf woman who has witnesses a criminal talking at a pay telephone, discussing a kidnapping. She has made out certain key words because of her ability to read lips. Mannix gets her to remember enough of the conversation so that he can proceed in his investigation. The detective finds a rich man who says his wife has been kidnapped. It turns out that the situation is much different than the rich man portrays, with the criminal anxious to tie up all loose ends, meaning killing Mannix and the deaf woman.

Saturday, August 1 - Gideon C.I.D.: The Thin Red Line

Gideon C.I.D.: The Thin Red Line (Season 1 Episode 19 - aired Feb 3, 1965)

The Balaclava Silver consists of 100s of pieces of expensive silver crockery and is the regimental silver of a proud Scottish regiment that was a part of The Thin Red Line at the Battle of Balaclava. The pieces are gradually being stolen from the regiment and replaced with fake replicas. Suspecting an inside job, the regimental general wants Gideon to find out who is stealing the silver pieces. To complicate the investigation, it must be done discretely to avoid any public scandal.

Friday, July 31 - Honeymoon for Three

Honeymoon for Three (1941)

On a book tour stop in Ohio, author Kenneth Bixby (George Brent) is surprised when a young woman, Julie Wilson, attaches herself to him, insisting that they were once college sweethearts. Julie's concerned cousin approaches Ken's devoted secretary and fiancée, Anne Rogers (Ann Sheridan), to enlist her aid in dissuading Julie from pestering Ken. Ken believes Julie is harmless, but is taken aback when her husband, Harvey (Charlie Ruggles), arrives and encourages him to run off with Julie.

Thursday, July 30 - The Gang Buster

The Gang Buster (1931)

Naïve insurance agent 'Cyclone' Case falls in love with Sylvia Martine, whose father has a dispute with gangster Mike Slade. When Sylvia is kidnapped by Slade and his gang, 'Cyclone' decides to save her and wanders straight into a gang war without even realizing it.

Wednesday, July 29 - Too Hot to Handle

Too Hot to Handle (1938)

Chris Hunter (Clark Gable) is a newsreel journalist who never lets the facts get in the way of a good story. When he meets daredevil pilot Alma Harding (Myrna Loy), he puts his charms on her, but she's more interested in going to the Amazon to search for her lost brother than entertaining his advances. In pursuit of her, as well as a hot story, Chris tags along. On the way, he competes with Bill Dennis (Walter Pidgeon), a rival reporter who is also eyeing Alma and the big scoop.

Tuesday, July 28 - Maigret: The Old Lady

Maigret: The Old Lady (Season 1 Episode 5 - aired Nov 28, 1960)

Inspector Maigret travels to the coastal town of Étretat in Normandy to investigate the arsenic poisoning of Rose, a young maid. The maid died after drinking a bitter sleeping draught intended for her wealthy mistress, the charming elderly widow Madame Valentine Besson.

Maigret must untangle conflicting accounts from Madame Besson and her complicated family to figure out if the servant girl was an accidental victim or if the widow herself was truly the target.