The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946)

Columnist Lee Bowman goes to visit his friend the priest in his rectory, to discover that the man has apparently hanged himself. It soon develops that he was murdered, and the apparent motive was to recover two bibles leading a lost Da Vinci painting illustrating Joshua before the walls of Jericho. Other people looking for it include Marguerite Chapman, who is lying about her name and origin; George Macready as a missionary with a gun and a thug to beat information out of people; Edgar Buchanan as a nosy lawyer; and J. Edward Bromberg as a twitchy, psychotic bookseller.

It's very clearly a gloss on THE MALTESE FALCON; Bowman's character is named "Archer", the same as Bogart's murdered partner in the classic film and the book it is based on. The mystery aspects, from a novel by Jo Eisinger are nicely tangled, and while most of the performances are straightforward, the movie moves along at a good clip, and Bromberg is a delight in his eccentric performance.

It's Lothar Mendes' last credit as a director. He was born in Germany in 1894, and moved from acting to directing in 1921. His best remembered movies are 1929's THE FOUR FEATHERS and 1936's THE MAN WHO COULD WORK MIRACLES. He died in 1974.