"The Squeaker' was the first Edgar Wallace book that I read and I thought it was the best book I had ever read (I was 10 years old at the time)!!!! Edgar Wallace was the Master of the "I never would have guessed it was him/her" ending!! Aside from being one of the most popular authors of his day, he was also one of the most prolific writers ever to put pen to paper, writing about 170 books and literally hundreds of short stories during the twenties. He usually took 9 days to finish a book but one was written in four days and another was done over a weekend. His books weren't masterpieces, but he knew what the masses wanted - characters were black and white, never grey!!! evil characters were often quite bizarre, there were lots of "secret" organizations and the minor characters were usually clerks, cockneys, race track touts -people that ordinary British readers could identify with. There were even characters inserted for comic relief - his books were made for the movies!!
When work started to dry up for some Hollywood stars, many went to Britain to re-energise their careers - this certainly worked for Edmund Lowe. Alexander Korda and American director William K. Howard made "The Squeaker" a top class production and debonair Lowe didn't seem out of place in the London setting.
Scotland Yard is baffled by "The Squeaker" - a shadowy fence, who, when his demands aren't met by desperate robbers, thinks nothing of sending the police particulars of their whereabouts. Inspector Barrabel (Edmund Lowe) once the best policeman in the force - now a down and out drunk has been picked up as a suspect in a jewel robbery. He is offered an under-cover job to track down "The Squeaker" - as long as he stops drinking. He goes to his friend Larry Graeme (Robert Newton) but he is not accommodating. He has just had a run-in with the squeaker and was not able to get his price - he was planning on making a new life for himself, together with Tamara (Tamara Desni), a singer at the local club. (Desni sings "He's Gone" and "I Can't Get Along Without You").
Now, going by the name of Captain John Leslie, Barrabel goes to see Mr. Sutton (Sebastian Shaw) a renowned philanthropist, who has a habit of helping men down on their luck. He also makes the acquaintance of Carol (Ann Todd) who is immediately attracted to him. Before too long, the film establishes who the squeaker is - he sends a letter to New Scotland Yard ousting Larry Graeme as the jewel thief. Larry is bought to the Yard but escapes - he knows who the squeaker is but is shot before he can identify him. The stage is now set for an "all the usual suspects" line up and the film is very clever at how they get the guilty party to confess. Alister Sim, a great British character actor, has a part as a quirky reporter, Joshua Collie.
Highly Recommended.
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