Blue, White and Perfect (1942) User Reviews (17)

love that Michael Shayne

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 28 April 2012]

The Michael Shayne series was a great gig for Lloyd Nolan as he didn't get to play many leads. "Blue, White, and Perfect" from 1942 is a fun entry into the series, and for us boomers, another chance to see George Reeves without his Superman cape. The film also features Helene Reynolds and Mary Beth Hughes.

In this one, Shayne takes a job as a riveter, at first to watch for sabotage, but after a robbery of industrial diamonds, to ferret out the criminal. Actually the job is a great cover as his fiancée, Merle, is pressuring him to get out of the detective business.

The trail leads to Hawaii. Since this film was released in January of 1942, it looks like it was filmed before Pearl Harbor, so the placement of the story in Hawaii is interesting, plus the fact that we seem to be on the trail of not Japanese, but Nazis. In order to get money for passage on the ship, Shayne convinces Merle to make a $1000 deposit on a ranch. Clever if low! On the ship, he meets Juan Arturo O'Hara (Reeves) and an old client, Helen Shaw, who now owns a dress shop in Hawaii. It gets pretty dicey from there as someone tries to kill Shayne, by not only shooting, but drowning! Director Herbert Leeds keeps the action going at a snappy pace. Highly entertaining, with a lively performance by Nolan, and a charming one by Reeves, whose career never regained its momentum after his war service.

Very good.

An Ocean Voyage with spies

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 18 May 2018]

This entry in 20th Century Fox's Michael Shayne series has Lloyd Nolan working on a case of espionage involving industrial diamonds. The war has eliminated mining them for a while and those we have now are guarded and prized by both us and the bad guys.

With the breezy insouciance typical of his character Nolan follows a lot of false leads and has to bamboozle his put upon girlfriend Mary Beth Hughes for money to follow his trail on an ocean voyage to Honolulu. The trail he's on is that of fashion designer Helene Reynolds.

Nolan also makes a big mistake in assuming something about passenger George Reeves ever the dapper playboy and Curt Bois the ever helpful ship steward.

I didn't particularly like the way the confrontation scene with the chief villain was handled in the end. On the other hand Nolan's final exit as the film closes is pretty funny.

Most entertaining B film from 20th Century Fox.

Black, white and pretty good

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 20 December 2012]

"Blue, White and Perfect" is probably the best Michael Shayne film made up to that point. As amusing as watching Shayne butt heads with a police inspector was in previous entries, here the almost total absence of an inspector leaves more room for an array of memorable supporting characters, such as those played (very well) by George Reeves and Helene Reynolds. The film also benefits from having nearly its entire second half set on a ship; for some reason this series seems to work best on long-distance means of transportation (don't forget the train in "Sleeper's West"). And there is a genuine surprise at the end - actually, two surprises, if you count the cliffhanger. **1/2 out of 4.

Superior Shayne

[dougdoepke · 23 March 2012]

Diamond smugglers lead detective Michael Shayne to shipboard intrigue and danger.

A lively cast, good production values, and an intriguing mystery, add up to a superior entry in the Michael Shayne series. Lloyd Nolan is so good as the brash detective, injecting real spark into his scenes. Ditto the brassy Hughes as his long-suffering girlfriend. But it's really Superman George Reeves who surprises as the mustachioed bon vivant, O'Hara. He's looser and more charming than I've seen him—no "Man of Steel" here. And I wonder what became of Helene Reynolds who also shows flair, as a shady lady, but appears to have left the business soon after. Too bad.

Anyway, it's a TCF production, which means even B-pictures get quality attention, as the well stocked crowd scenes show. Plus, the suspense part keeps you guessing, like who's trying to drown Shayne and O'Hara aboard ship— a really well thought out and nail-biting sequence. Then too, all the ingredients are wrapped into a neat fast-moving package by director Leeds. In passing-- note how the politics of the diamonds remains curiously unclear. It looks like the movie was produced around Pearl Harbor time, but no mention is made of the Japanese. Instead, Nazi's are mentioned as behind the diamond smuggling, even though America is not yet at war with Hitler. I wonder what the story is here.

Nonetheless, this energetic little programmer still manages a solid degree of entertainment plus.

Lloyd Nolan as Mike Shayne

[boblipton · 6/10 · 4 August 2017]

Lloyd Nolan is Mike Shayne again. This time he's headed to Honolulu after some stolen diamonds -- industrial ones which are not blue-white and perfect.

This Fox second feature clearly shows it doesn't waste money, but everything about it -- except the script -- is first rate. It has Glenn MacWilliams as cinematographer -- beautiful, sharp, high lighted images -- and some solid talent in the ranks: George Reeves as a suspicious shipboard passenger, Curt Bois as a ship's steward and even Mae Marsh in a sizable role. The story is a mystery, with its curves disguised by Nolan's wise-cracking. In short, it's a fine little B movie.

A pretty good outing

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 9 July 2009]

The Michael Shayne series is unusual in that the first film was probably the worst of the films starring Lloyd Nolan. After a somewhat disappointing start, they tended to get better.

BLUE, WHITE AND PERFECT, like most of the series, was made during WWII, so it's not surprising that the patriotism and Nazi angle was used. The film begins with Mike taking a job as a detective in an aircraft plant. No sooner than he's hired, there's a robbery and an important shipment of industrial diamonds is stolen. I love how with detectives in film and TV how the minute they show up, a crime is committed--it's convenient that way! Mike goes undercover and assumes a couple different aliases until finally the trail takes him to a cruise ship headed for Honolulu. Once on board the ship, he meets an old girlfriend and the oddly named Juan Arturo O'Hara (George Reeves). Naturally there is an attempt made on Shayne's life and O'Hara is shot. He turns out to be a government agent and will survive, but now it's up to Shayne alone to follow the trail.

The film has a nice pace, decent acting (for a B-detective series) and doesn't go too far on the silly Nazi angle (instead letting the mystery itself be the focus, not stereotypical snarling Nazis). While not the best of the B-series, the Shayne films rank up there with such films as The Saint and Falcon for entertainment and enjoyability. The only negative I could see was Shayne's relationship with the blonde. She was certifiably insane and took to throwing stuff and behaving rather unhinged. This was supposed to be comic relief but just tended to interfere with the seriousness of the plot. Still, well worth seeing.

Better than the other Shayne Fox video releases so far

[donofthedial · 7/10 · 4 December 2008]

I'm working my way through the 4 film video package and this is the most entertaining one so far in my opinion. Not that it is a good film, but it has fewer drawbacks than the other two (Sleepers West & Michael Shayne, Private Detective.) The plot - Michael Shayne is following German agents who are stealing/smuggling industrial diamonds to Hawaii.

Of course, in all these drawn out MS melodramas, it takes him half the film to get on board and on with the show. Onboard, he meets George Reeves and reacquaints himself with an attractive woman. Everyone gets good service from steward Curt Bois.

As in all these MS films (so far), several scenes go on way too long with pointless dialog - presumably to fill out the storyline and running time. However, this film was less padded than the other two. Amen! Since MS and the ship are headed to Hawaii and there is a tag on the steamer trunks with a date in bold writing "Dec 6th", I thought they would be arriving the day before Pearl Harbor is bombed by the Japanese. But, no......The film was released in early 1942 so I do not know what to make of the steamer trunk date.

The ending of the film has MS running off to Manila after a corpse falls out of a closet with a knife in his back and a mysterious note pinned to him. MS bids his sexy blond honey adieu and exits screen left for Manila. I dunno.......I don't expect much or try and dope out these films too much.

Good to see George Reeves in an early film. Mary Beth Hughes as MS' g/f looks good. Lloyd Nolan is good in all these films, I should add. The city sets in the early part of the film are nice. I'm not sure what the title means.

All in all - lightweight 'mystery' entertainment from the early 40s from a major studio.

One of the better Michael Shayne mysteries

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 17 September 2020]

Private detective Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) takes a job at an airplane manufacturing firm in order to look for saboteurs. On his first day, a load of industrial diamonds are stolen, and Shayne tracks them all the way to Hawaii and a gang of German crooks.

This is a fun, breezy mystery despite the heavier implications of the war. Nolan is funny and charming, and his detective is a morally ambiguous hero, such as when he defrauds his girlfriend (Hughes) out of a thousand bucks so that he can pay for a pleasure cruise to trail his quarry. Yeah, it was for a good cause, but most guys who do that to a girlfriend end up the subject of somebody else's murder mystery. The supporting cast is good, particularly Helene Reynolds as an old acquaintance of Shayne's, and Reeves as a shady Latin salesman.

Great cast!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 24 January 2013]

Number four of the twelve-picture Michael Shayne series. In this one, Shayne tackles Nazi agents who have stolen industrial diamonds that, while valuable, are neither blue nor white – and a long way from perfect. But, never mind. Aside from a slightly disappointing climax, this is a well-nigh perfect little "B" with an outstanding cast and A-1 technical effects. Lloyd Nolan's fans will be glad to see their hero get away with another of his famous impersonations. He's a bogus Southern colonel this time. Co-star, Mary Beth Hughes, is forceful too; but the plum female role is taken by Helene Reynolds who plays so delightfully and with such captivating ease, one wonders why she didn't become a major star. George "Superman" Reeves come across well too, but the guy who has all the male contingent (including Lloyd) well and truly beaten, is Curt Bois, who enjoys a made-to-order role as an over-solicitous steward.

Surprisingly Good Detective Tale

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 3 November 2017]

Detective Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) boards a Hawaii-bound ocean liner on the trail of stolen industrial diamonds and a Nazi smuggling ring.

I have never heard of the Michael Shayne series, and I know by starting here I am jumping in the middle. Hopefully I didn't miss much, but the story still makes plenty of sense. And actually, it is really, really good. I get the feeling this was something of a B-picture, but today (2017) it feels more fun and fresh than some of the A-pictures of the time.

It serves as an interesting blend of detective fiction and spycraft, and has the interesting distinction of being set at least partially in Hawaii. As I understand it, the film was released in 1942 but was probably filmed in 1941... thus they had no idea just how crucial Hawaii would be to the World War II story. In fact, if this was filmed prior to Pearl harbor, America was not technically even in the war yet!

Fighting for the red white and blue ain't so perfect.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 9 November 2015]

Michael Shane takes on Nazi spies in the fourth entry of this comedy mystery series which moves very quickly but contains far too many characters, red herrings and confusing loopholes. The entertainment value doesn't come from the story itself but from the witty screenplay and the way that Nolan and Mary Beth Hughes play off of each other. I found it to be at times to be too convoluted to follow and while the adventure scenes are exciting, too much seems to be happening at once. Even knowing when this was made. Nolan and Hughes seem to be having a very good time in the making of this film, but the way that the script moves the plot along makes it more irritating and hard to get though. However, if you can stand to watch this several times, you may begin to understand what the plot is all about. I've seen enough of these war movies to know what works and what is filled with unbelievable plot devices, and this seems to be more of the later than the former.

They really don't make them like this any more.

[bill-688 · 8/10 · 11 March 2009]

Crisp black and white prints look very good on my HD set. Great film, part of a package of four on two DVDs. My wife and I have now gone through three with one to go. I was intrigued by product placement which is very unusual at this time in film history. For example, in Sleepers West, a pack of Chesterfield cigarettes is held so that anyone can read it. Then, in Blue, White and Perfect, two cartons of Chesterfields are held up for the longest time. Mission Orange soda is also prominently shown and directors make no effort to disguise the makes of the great cars used in the films. DelMonte is plainly advertised along with Yellow Cab. Also, there seems to be just enough location scenes to give the viewer a good look at life in the 40s. This Michael Shane group is great fun and easy viewing; four little time machines waiting to take you back.

"You know she's what I call an attractive woman."

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 12 April 2020]

Michael Shayne takes on the Nazis in this fourth entry in Fox's enjoyable B detective series starring Lloyd Nolan. This is far from the best of the series but it is entertaining thanks to a fine supporting cast and a plot that always keeps its lead character moving. It went lots of places I didn't expect, both in terms of locations and plot twists. The best Shayne movies have a good mix of humor and mystery. This one's a little more on the darker side. But like I said it's still an entertaining picture.

Another Good Shayne Entry

[GManfred · 16 July 2012]

All in all, this was a good series - better than average, all things considered. Plots, production values, supporting casts all top-of-the-line. Lloyd Nolan is an excellent detective hero as the charismatic Mike Shayne. Funny how Nolan acts and sounds like a New Yorker, even though he was from the West Coast. Here he is involved in a wartime espionage story involving Nazis, but they aren't as big a part of the plot as they could be a couple of years later.

It's a good mystery, well written and you won't guess the murderer. But I thought it was interesting to note the bag tag on the steamer trunk that a reviewer alluded to. It says Honolulu - Dec. 6, 1941, the day before Pearl Harbor. I have to think it was just chance that this date was used, because the film was released in Jan. 1942 - but it had to have been made 6-8 months previous, so I don't think there was any intent to be sensational here (unless I misread the reviewer's comments).

Anyway, this is a good, worthwhile show in a noteworthy series. But I still think the last one, "Just Off Broadway" (1945), is the best.

Blue, White and Perfect

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 8 January 2024]

On the trail of some industrial diamonds that go missing from the safe of his new employers, loved-up but down on his luck detective "Mike Shayne" (Lloyd Nolan) begs and borrows some cash so he can travel on an ocean liner upon which he is sure are the thieves. Pretty soon the presence of "Helen" (Helene Reynolds) arouses his suspicions - she isn't a lady to me messed with, but he also has a new ally in "Juan" (George Reeves) so has hopes of getting to the bottom of what looks increasingly like a Nazi plot. The boat scenario provides plenty for the story: small portholes, foggy decks and even a watertight door add to the mystery. It's ten minutes too long and I found Nolan's portrayal just a little too smug. That's not helped by way too much dialogue throughout and though it does pick up nicely at the end, it's all just a bit too much of the "Lloyd Nolan" show for me.

Mike Shayne foils the Nazis

[pensman · 8/10 · 25 November 2023]

If it hadn't been for Hastings Mystery Theater, I would have missed this entry. This picture brings Michael Shayne into the beginnings of WWII chasing a theft of industrial diamonds being smuggled into the Vaterland. On Mike's trail is Juan Arturo O'Hara (a younger George Reeves, 10 years before becoming a TV sensation as Superman), but is O'Hara a spy or something else.

A good story that is well-paced and has a series of twists and turns, but the viewer can follow without getting lost. For the most part, the villains are bad and deserve their various ends. However, there was one whose death was undeserved.

Good Michael Shayne.

[wkozak221 · 9/10 · 31 August 2020]

I love the Michael Shayne movies. However, with Lloyd Nolan. He did an excellent job. He was funny and projected confidence and intelligence. This was a good installment in his series of Shayne movies. The only minus? As I watch George Reeves in movies I find him smug and pompous. He was an average actor but that was it.