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It's hard to resist a movie with a delightful title like Quiet Please, Murder, and when one discovers that the title refers to a murder in a library, it's impossible not to want to see at least a little of it. As it turns out, Quiet is a nifty little film noir, if not one of the great entries in the crime film canon. A lot of points go to Quiet simply for its unique setting, and it gets even more for keeping a significant portion of the film inside the library. Kudos to director/screenwriter John Francis Larkin for coming up with ways of keeping the film visually interesting and never letting its library setting become monotonous. Congratulations are also due Larkin for creating one of the most heartless and manipulative femmes fatale to come down the pike in Gail Patrick's Myra. She's case study in everything a self-centered dame should be, and Patrick does her full justice. Equally memorable is George Sanders' cool, suave villain; the chemistry between Sanders and Patrick is absolutely invaluable. Throw in a spiffy Nazi turn by idney Blackmer, and one is almost able to overlook the fact that hero Richard Carlson is, at best, adequate. Quiet also benefits from the moody, stylish cinematography of Joe MacDonald, which has a very welcome mania for shadows and which uses the strings of a harp to metaphorically suggest prison bars in a way that sounds corny but which in practice works beautifully.