Movie Review: The Case of the Black Parrot (1941)

Synopsis: While traveling onboard a ship, newspaper reporter Jim Moore falls in love with Sandy Vantine, who is traveling with her uncle, Paul. Paul is in possession of a wooden chest he believes to be a counterfeit created by a master criminal known as the Black Parrot while a Scotland Yard inspector Colonel Pickett, is also onboard, hoping to catch the thief and forger. During the trip, Paul realizes he doesn't have a forgery and, instead, a real antique chest worth as much as $250,000. Soon after, someone sounds an alarm and, while people are distracted, breaks into Paul's cabin. The chest makes it safely back to the Vantine house but eventually takes a deadly turn when Paul and a stranger seeking Paul's time are both killed by poison.

Who's in it? The movie stars William Lundigan, Maris Wrixon, Eddie Foy Jr., Paul Cavanagh and Luli Deste.

Review: I came across The Case of the Black Parrot last night and since I was in the mood for a classic mystery, I decided to watch it this morning. At first, I wasn't sure what to expect from the film, but it turned out to be a good choice.

There were a couple things I liked about this film. The main one was the mystery surrounding the chest and why it was so important. While the antique chest had value of its own, it was a bit too large for someone to simply take it out of a room unseen (especially when they were on the ship) and certainly didn't seem like something worth murdering someone over. Plus, there was the fact the antique chest was apparently swapped out for a forgery, when it's usually the other way around.

The film also had a surprising number of potential suspects. I was correct on my guess, but the film did manage to make me question that guess before it was over. Plus, since nobody knew anything about the Black Parrot other than the criminal being a master of disguise, it left the door open to it being just about anyone, male or female. I couldn't even rule out Jim (Lundigan) since he could have easily been lying about being a newspaper reporter and his photographer, Tripod (Foy) could have just as easily been an accomplice.

The truth about why and how the men were killed was an intriguing one and something I hadn't even considered. I also liked how the movie did a great job setting up a secret code between Jim and Sandy (Wrixon) that came into play later in the movie, when lives were in danger. It was actually kind of clever because the setup was a lot more subtle than many other movies would have made it.

My only real complaint about the movie is Sandy seeming to not be overly distraught over her uncle Paul's (Charles Waldron) death. She barely shed any tears when it happened and seemed to forget she should be in mourning by the end of the film. I know she was in love with Jim and love conquers all in movies like this, but the man did take her into his home and deserved better.

Final Opinion: It's a solid mystery movie that makes the most of its hour runtime. I enjoyed watching it and would recommend it.

My Grade: A

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