The Man Who Wouldn't Die

The Man Who Wouldn't Die(1942)

04/27/1942 (US)Crime, Mystery1h 5m
6.4

"An Empty Grave... A Cunning, Gunning Ghost... And Michael Shane!"

Overview

A man believed to be dead and buried escapes from his grave and returns to the scene of the crime seeking revenge.

Brett Halliday

Characters

Herbert I. Leeds

Director

Arnaud d'Usseau

Screenplay

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Part of the Michael Shayne Collection

The 1940 film Michael Shayne, Private Detective is the first in a series of twelve movies. Lloyd Nolan starred as Shayne through 1942, until the series was dropped by Twentieth Century Fox and picked up by PRC. At that point, Hugh Beaumont took over the role in five films released in 1946.

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A review by CinemaSerf
6.0

Written on December 6, 2023

We start with a sinister scene in the grounds on an eerie country mansion. A burial - but of whom, and why in the dead of night? Well, it doesn't take us long to find out why and soon daughter of the house "Cathy" (Marjorie Weaver) engages the services of the sleuthing "Shayne" (Lloyd Nolan) to find out just what is going on. Have Burke & Hare moved into the neighbourhood? Snag for "Cathy" - her wealthy father "Dudley" (Paul Harvey) is no fan of cops, so the two have to pretend that they are... married...! Maybe not the easiest of disguises but as the story gathers pace there develops quite a fun dynamic between the two trying to stay one step ahead of their increasingly sophisticated and menacing nemesis. It's quite a decent little crime-noir, with a gradually accruing sense of menace helped by the basic, but effective, dark photography and some quite clever close ups on the eyes of our perpetrator (almost Karloff-esque, at times). The denouement is a touch far-fetched, but there's enough in the story to keep in interesting for an hour.