Diagonaldi Very well executed

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

csteidler Instantly sinister, Joseph Schildkraut gives a knife throwing lesson to some underlings. Schildkraut is delightfully wicked as a shady character who manages a night club—and also runs a ship-wrecking insurance scam.Walter Pidgeon makes his second appearance as detective Nick Carter, once again exuding self-confidence; he is again joined by Donald Meek as would-be detective Bartholomew, better known as the Bee Man. Together they gradually unravel the ship-wrecking plot with the help of the usual supporting characters—including John Carroll as a shipping magnate's son, and Florence Rice, who is quite good as the requisite beautiful young woman mixed up in the case.The setting is Panama, and while the first half of the picture moves rather slowly, it features plenty of MGM-style Panama atmosphere. Eventually the plot starts to move along and builds nicely to a truly exciting climax on board ship.Nat Pendleton is amusing as a dumb henchman who is told to "Take a walk around the block" any time there is real dirty work to be done. Meek is entertaining as always, and Pidgeon handles both the detective work and the smart-alecky dialog adeptly. Schildkraut as the villain, however, has the juiciest role.The plot is nothing special but it does include a nifty surprise or two; overall, there's not much to this picture but it's plenty easy to watch.

JohnHowardReid The second of the three "Nick Carter" movies all starring Walter Pidgeon, also features Donald Meek (again as the Bee Man), who is not only a little more subdued than usual, but plays a vital role in the fast-paced plot. This one was written by Jonathan Latimer who was soon to work closely with John Farrow on many of his films including The Big Clock, Beyond Glory, Night Has a Thousand Eyes, Alias Nick Beal, Copper Canyon, Botany Bay, Submarine Command, Plunder of the Sun, Back from Eternity, etc. Support players including smooth-talking, neatly attired Joseph Schildkraut as the villains' villain, Nat Pendleton as his brain-dead offsider, Steffi Duna as a language twister, John Carroll as the heroic guy, and Florence Rice as a Clayton's heroine. (She's the heroine you have when you're not having a heroine). True, this vast assembly – and I haven't listed even half the actors with important support roles including Alec Craig, Matthew Boulton, Cecil Kellaway, Charles Coleman, Holmes Herbert – do divert our attention from Walter Pidgeon's Nick Carter, but I, for one, am not complaining.

LeonLouisRicci The second of three Nick Carter movies (all are middling and forgettable) again directed by the talented B-Movie auteur. This series is an MGM production and includes many talented character actors and all three films have a "going to war" prelude plot.The velvet voiced, skirt chasing screen adaptation of the Pulp Detective is so whimsical and heavily propagandized that it serves its heavy message with a lot of sugar and very little else. It is all done in a professional A-Studio way and has a minimum of entertainment value and a maximum of hokum. This was also the most studio-bound of the three with every scene obviously on the back-lot.There are three recurring themes in these justly forgotten relics. Carter's lechery, sidekick, and his fight against the impending American involvement in WWII. It does have an attraction as to the movie machine and its value at shaping public opinion, as an icon of 1939-40 silly sensibilities and what was accepted as good family fun with a not so subtle message of Nationalism.

bkoganbing Walter Pidgeon is back in the second of three Nick Carter films he made for MGM's B picture unit until he started getting leads in A films, a lot of them with Greer Garson. He's called in as a consultant by none less than Scotland Yard after one of their operatives is murdered and on US territory.Said territory being the Panama Canal Zone where several British ships have gone down without warning. Being wartime a U-Boat is suspected, but they can't find hint of one operating in the area.Not much suspense in this film since we know right away it's Joseph Schildkraut who is playing one of his best and most epicene villains, something Schildkraut did with aplomb. He's a former union organizer in America and he and Pidgeon have history. Of course he doesn't believe that Nick Carter is just in the Panama Canal Zone for a vacation. I never heard of it being a vacation place when we did lease it from Panama.As usual Donald Meek is more annoying than entertaining as the 'bee man' who inflicted himself on Pidgeon in the first Carter film. But Schildkraut lifts this one a notch with his performance.