AllMovie

Another worthwhile entry from the RKO Radio B-picture division, 12 Crowded Hours stars stalwart Richard Dix as crime-busting reporter Nick Green, who within the course of a single night (hence the title) topples a gangland empire. Hoping to gather enough evidence to send numbers racketeer Costain (Cyrus W. Kendall), Green enlists the aid of his fiancee Paula Sanders (Lucille Ball), whose brother Dave (Allen Lane) is innocently mixed up with Costain's mob. The villain tips his hand by murdering four people-including Green's night editor-when he loses $80,000 in a double-cross. Billed tenth in the cast list as Thelma is Dorothy Lee, former ingenue lead of RKO's Wheeler and Woolsey comedies. 12 Crowded Hours manages to pack a lot of entertainment value into its 64 crowded minutes.