Private Detective 62

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Private Detective 62
Private-Detective-62-1932.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Screenplay by Rian James
Story by Raoul Whitfield
Starring William Powell
Cinematography Tony Gaudio
Edited by Harold McLernon
Music by Bernhard Kaun
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • June 10, 1933 (1933-06-10)
Running time
66 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Private Detective 62 is a 1933 American pre-Code detective film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring William Powell as a private detective who falls for a woman whom he has been hired to frame in a scandal.

Contents

Plot

In France, U.S. State Department employee Donald Free is caught trying to steal French state papers. Free is released from his job and is deported. Back in the U.S., Free finds difficulty finding another job during the Great Depression. He convinces Dan Hogan, a crooked and incompetent private detective, to become his partner. Without Free's knowledge, Hogan is financed by gangster Tony Bandor and business booms.

Bandor complains that society woman Janet Reynolds is winning too much at his gambling tables and then hires Hogan to uncover some sort of scandal that he can use to prevent Reynolds from collecting her winnings. Hogan engages Free without telling him the true purpose of the request.

While keeping an eye on Reynolds, Free falls in love with her. When Reynolds informs Bandor that she wants to collect her winnings, Hogan suggests to Bandor that they fool Reynolds into thinking that she has killed Bandor under suspicious conditions. Hogan double-crosses Bandor by hiring a thug to shoot him after Reynolds leaves the apartment. Reynolds seeks Free's assistance. Free learns the identity of Bandor's actual killer and traces him back to Hogan. Meanwhile, Hogan tries to blackmail Janet. After Free has Hogan arrested, he is offered his old job again, but tells Reynolds that it is not the sort of life that he could ask anyone to share with him, so he leaves. As he is departing, Reynolds proposes marriage to him and he accepts.

Cast

Production

The film's working titles were Private Detective and Man Killer. It was shot over the course of 21 days at a cost of $260,000. Modern sources list Hal B. Wallis as the supervisor of production. [1]

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References

  1. "Private Detective 62 Notes". www.tcm.com. Retrieved March 15, 2014.