Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS****Michael Shayne, Lloyd Nolan, got his hands full in delivering a very important witness to exonerate someone, Joe Callahan, that Shayne when he was a cop sent up the river for four years for robbery. The witness Helen Carlson, Mary Beth Hughes, is whisked literally under cover on the Denver to San Francisco train to get her to the court, not church, on time to testify in Callahan's defense. It's there where the trouble begins in that in exonerating Callahan would implicate the Governor of the state of California Clebe Wentworth in framing Calllahan for the murder that the Gov's son Larry committed! The trouble in all this is that the star witness Helen Carlson is not that dependable in testifying in that she's a cold stone drunk and on top of all that the Governor's goons are out to whack her before she makes it to SF to testify! And it's poor Michael Shayne's job to make sure that she get there alive!We also have Shayne's pesky ex-girlfriend reporter Kay Bently, Lynn Bari, who's not only engaged-do you notice that back in those days in the movies that more women are engaged then married- to the Gov's right hand man Tom Linscott, Donald Douglas, whom Shayne takes an immediate dislike of! What comes from right out of the blue is Everette Jason, Louis Jean Heydt,who's escaping from his boring and secure life as a dry goods salesman with his life savings, $10,000,00, for a much better life of thrills and excitement as a big game hunter in South America. It's later that Jason hooks up with Helen Carlson and plans to check out of the country and elope to South America! Thus leaving both Michael Shayne and the person she's to testify for both out in the cold and strapped into the San Quentin gas chamber.***SPOILERS***Llyod Nolan looking as if he suffering from a severe case of sleep deprivation sleepwalks through the entire movie in trying to get Helen to testify as well as keeping her from getting drunk as well as killed at the same time. Kay Bently does her best to screw things up for Shayne in being angry at him for keeping the big story of Helen testifying from her not realizing that a man's-Callahan- life is at stake and may well end up losing it because of her foolish actions. Much like the far better movie "The Narrow Margin" released ten years later the film is saved by the comedy relief of Pullman Porter Ben Carter who discovers Jason's $10,000.00 and thinks he embezzled it and keeps upping the amount in how much it is, from $10,000.00 to a half a million, that throws everything else in the movie completely out of whack!

GManfred This is a pretty good entry in the Mike Shayne series. I say pretty good because there are a couple of better ones than this one. It starts off on good footing - a witness is traveling to a trial on a train, in disguise and in the care of Mike Shayne. Naturally, there are a few others on the train with a great deal of interest in uncovering this witness. Then follows the usual hijinks and shenanigans that take place on a train with sleeping cars; people coming in and out of compartments looking for this one and that, shady characters searching for passengers, people breaking into compartments, etc.Several reviewers have compared this film to "The Narrow Margin", but from this point on, "Sleepers" and " Margin" differ significantly, as "Sleepers" begins to lose its luster as well as the slight amount of tension it has built up. I disagree with some reviewers that "Narrow Margin" was copied on this picture, as that movie was taut and tense right to the end, with Charles McGraw of the scowling countenance in the role played by Nolan here. "Sleepers" goes off on a tangent - the witness (Mary Beth Hughes) has fallen in love with a man who has stumbled into her compartment (Louis Jean Heydt, out of character as a good-natured slob instead of a sneak), they leave the train with the help of a passenger, and from here on the film limps to a crowd-pleasing, pablum ending so characteristic of B movies.Lloyd Nolan is, as always, stalwart and more charismatic than at any other time in his career as Shayne, which is the main reason to watch this entertaining series. I just wished they could have come up with a better way to end matters, like "The Narrow Margin" did.

MartinHafer I've seen several Michael Shayne films and overall I'd have to say that Lloyd Nolan did a good job of playing the detective but that the studio gave him rather feeble scripts. Fortunately, this one is a bit better and is like a lesser version of the great Noir film, THE NARROW MARGIN.The film begins with Shayne getting ready to go on a train. At about the same time, a lady is brought aboard on a stretcher and you find out later that she's actually in disguise--with a wig and posing as a sick woman. In reality, Shayne is bringing her to San Francisco to testify in a case where an innocent man is going to jail unless she appears in court. However, at the same time, there are political forces that will do just about anything to make sure she doesn't make it.At the same time, there are several plots and subplots. Some, such as the scum-bag who boards the train looking for the lady, work well. Others, such as the major portion of the film about a female reporter don't work as well, as they seem to deflect from the plot as well as make the film seem "cute". I think that maintaining the gritty realism (more like THE NARROW MARGIN) would have made the movie even better, but still it was exciting and well done--a better than average B-detective film.

Terrell-4 For the first 40 minutes of Sleepers West, one of the Michael Shayne quickie B movies starring Lloyd Nolan, I thought we might be in the middle of tense Narrow Margin territory. Mike Shayne is hiding a secret witness on a train barreling through the night between Denver and a high profile trial in San Francisco. Her testimony can prove the innocence of a man framed for a murder...a murder that involves some very powerful people who want the case closed fast and permanently. And on that train is a killer determined to identify the witness and stop her from testifying. That's not all. Also aboard is a smart, shrewd and sexy newspaper reporter, Kay Bentley (Lynn Bari), an old romance of Mike's who is determined to find Mike's witness and get a scoop. Then there's the tall guy with a suitcase full of cash who might just be a poor shrump...or a killer, too. If that's not enough for Mike, his witness, Helen Carlson (Mary Beth Hughes), is a lush piece of frosting who enjoys a drink, has lazy eyes and lips as plump as Angelina Jolie's collagen injections. If Sleepers West, a great, odd-sounding title, settles down to standard B movie fare toward the end, the ride at least is a lot of fun. Lloyd Nolan remains the reason to see this comedy/ mystery. Lynn Bari adds style and sexiness and has a great voice. She was a good actress who could handle comedy, drama, weepies or romance. Over a long career, she'd shrug and do the movies she was offered, and never was able to break out of the B's. Blue, White and Perfect (1942), directed by Herbert I. Leeds, is the fourth and last in the Michael Shayne Mysteries - Volume I. In some ways, it's the best of the four. Once again we have an economical set, this time on an ocean liner steaming from Los Angeles to Honolulu. There's espionage involving industrial diamonds, murder, fist fights and a nice near- drowning in a flooding ship's compartment. The story is as complicated than the other three were, but it hold ups for the length of the movie. In this one, the ruthless Mr. Big is well disguised until the end. The confined quarters of the ship means there are lots of scrambles up and down stairways and people following each other at night in the halls. Lloyd Nolan continues his pitch-perfect portrayal of Shayne as cocky, funny, tough when he has to be and veering closely, but not close enough, toward getting married. Shayne's escape from marriage this time is cleverly handled by a corpse with a knife in its back. Don't blame yourself if you get confused over some of the characters in these films. Mary Beth Hughes appears in three of them, Helene Reynolds in two and Marjorie Weaver in two. And they're all in leading roles never playing the same characters. Lloyd Nolan must have been as confused as Mike Shayne sometimes appears to be. And let's hear it for double- breasted suits. That's what Shayne always wears, and they look good on him.