Charlie McCarthy, Detective

Charlie McCarthy, Detective (1939)

Genres - Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Detective Film  |   Release Date - Dec 22, 1939 (USA - Unknown)  |   Run Time - 78 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Having proven their box-office value in such films as A Letter of Introduction, Goldwyn Follies and You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his wise-lipped dummy Charlie McCarthy were awarded with a starring vehicle of their own. While entertaining at the home of magazine publisher Court Aldrich (Samuel S. Hinds), Bergen and his "friends" Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd get mixed up in their host's murder. It seems that Aldrich was working hand in glove with gangster Tony Garcia (Harold Huber), who has kept himself busy knocking off the publisher's enemies. Could Garcia be the murderer this time as well, or was it someone else at the party? Inspector Dailey (Edgar Kennedy) wants to find out-but he doesn't want the unsolicited assistance of Charlie McCarthy, who insists upon playing Sherlock Holmes, replete with deerstalker and magnifying glass. Though essentially a "stunt" film, Charlie McCarthy, Detective pleases the crowd with an abundance of hilarious dialogue and a reasonably good mystery subplot.

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Keywords

detective, gangster, magazine, murder, police-inspector, publisher, ventriloquist