Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

mark.waltz "Oh, the cleverness of me!" I recall as a kid saying that to myself and others when I came up with a smart answer or a particularly good paper in school, and I can just hear the writers of this intelligent but smug mystery saying that as they put their final stamp on the completed script. The first of a three part series of little "B" mysteries is intriguing but bogs down with chatty plot development that takes this down a convoluted road. It starts off fine with the seemingly accidental death of a prominent citizen (George Macready), decapitated in a car accident. Jim Bannon is detective Jack Packard who arrives at the mortuary, not at all surprised by what has happened to Macready. Through flashbacks, a confusing mix of Asian cult religion and marital discord between MacReady and his supposedly wheelchair bound wife (Nina Foch) is examined, taking this into areas that are often morbid, frequently thrilling, but ultimately a tangled mess that tosses the viewer into a state of frenzy.In spite of all this in the state of confusion, there is something to be said for the imagination which went into this, and even if everything is explained in the horrific outcome, it takes a lot of thought afterwords to put it all together. A lot of the characters are not who they appear to be, utilizing disguises, alternate personalities and phony illnesses to achieve a nefarious goal. Other than Bannon, the characters are mostly morally bankrupt, and as the world moved from the end of World War II into a very cynical age, this was appropriately novel in its approach. Like any major piece of modern art, this is to be taken at an individual face value by each viewer as to what they get out of it. For me, it's an impressive attempt for a screenwriter to be very literary but ultimately just drops into a huge abyss where the writer must dig themselves out with the force of volcanic emotion erupting beneath him.

kidboots Nina Foch was another actress who had to flee to Broadway ("John Loves Mary" 423 performances) to prove her acting dedication - in Hollywood, even though she was terrific in "My Name is Julia Ross" she just wasn't given a go. "I Love a Mystery" is typical, a nice little noir and Foch was outstanding as the wife with a secret but Hollywood didn't seem to take any notice. "I Love a Mystery" had started life as a radio serial in 1939 and was about three friends who manage a detective agency and travel the world in search of adventure but when the movie was released it seemed only two of the friends made it to the silver screen.When a flaming desert is almost spilled on a trio of men, Jefferson Monk (George MacCready) informs the others, two detectives, Jim Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) that it was meant for him and explains a prediction that prophesies he will die in three days. Doc and Jim become his unofficial minders - they meet his invalid wife whose behaviour is calm and hysterical by turns. Monk tells of their travels in the Middle East and of a strange street musician with an eerie song who he encounters again back in New York. He is lured into a secret society where he finds that the face of their founder who died 1,000 years before is a mirror image of himself. The Leader begs Monk to sell him his head!!! - hence he is now running for his life!!Jim is suspicious of Ellen Monk's (Foch) debilitating illness and he is not wrong as Ellen is up and walking around when she is sure no one is in the house. The plot thickens when the pegleg stalker is killed and the girl who had initially picked up Monk at the "Silver Samovar" is revealed as the stalker's daughter. But you know that with George McCready as the star, he is going to make everyone, both goodies and baddies, feel mighty uncomfortable!!Introduced by a narrator as "The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk" this would have made a good series in "The Whistler" vein. Columbia made a tentative go at it with "The Devil's Mask" and "The Unknown" both from 1946 and both with Barton Yarborough and Jim Bannon - it's just a pity the studio didn't pursue it.

dougdoepke There's a good, exotic little mystery buried somewhere inside the jumbled screenplay and the deadly casting of the two leads—Bannon and Yarborough. Bannon's career shows a competent action hero. Here, however, he brings down his scenes with a wooden style that's unfortunate, to say the least. Note that he doesn't even move his shoulders during his disguised piano playing. Ditto Yarborough's acting style, and whose Dixie accent is supposed to project, I guess, a folksy charm. Together, they're a zero at the heart of events. Maybe a better director could have gotten a livelier performance out of them-- I don't know. Nonetheless, if there's a single reason the series failed to catch on, I expect it's because of this central casting flaw.Fortunately, there're a number of imaginative touches in the 60-minutes that almost redeem the flaws. That false face is truly chilling; the secret society and the missing head add real color; plus, the several plot twists are highly original and unforeseen (at least, by me). Too bad they're buried in a script that's really hard to follow with its many underdeveloped characters shuttling in and out of the meandering narrative.It is a good chance, however, to catch two fine actors, MacReady and Foch, who would combine the following year in the cult classic My Name is Julia Ross (1945). Here, they're not at their best, but still worth watching. I'm just sorry this promising screenplay wasn't sent back for narrative improvements, and maybe a better director. Because the seeds of a first- rate mystery do show through.

Neil Doyle There's a real film noir feeling to this Columbia programmer based on the "I Love A Mystery" radio series. The story is a good one, about a man who predicts his own death will happen in a few days (GEORGE MACREADY) and hires two detectives (JIM BANNON and BARTON YARBOROUGH) to help him avoid the hit man.The plot keeps spinning unpredictably from scene to scene, all of it played in earnest style by the participants, including NINA FOCH as Macready's scheming wife. As a matter of fact, it has the feel of a Cornel Woolrich story, but he didn't pen this one.Well photographed, given some good production values and it gives George Macready another chance to show just how he could dominate any scene he appeared in. His role here is just as enjoyable as his much more famous screen appearance in Columbia's GILDA.With a clever script and smoothly directed, it's probably the best in the trio of "I Love A Mystery" series that made it to the screen.