writtenbymkm-583-902097
Spoiler Alert. I must be the only person in the world who doesn't like Lloyd Nolan. I find him intensely annoying and totally unbelievable as private detective Michael Shayne (who originally was a hard-boiled type). And in "Sleepers West," he just seems inept. A guy is on trial for his life, but he's innocent, and the real murderer is the governor's son (I think -- this was a very confusing movie). But a single witness can blow everything open. Naturally all the forces of evil will do everything to keep this witness from testifying. So what does Shayne do to protect her on a train en route to the trial? He sticks her in a compartment, says "Keep your door locked," and leaves her totally unattended as he wanders around the train and swaps sarcasms with his old flame, an eager girl reporter who wants the story. The witness has no other protection. And evidently Shayne doesn't even carry a gun. If the witness was so vital and her life so endangered, why wouldn't she have been guarded by lots of people, including a couple of heavies armed to the teeth right there in the compartment with her? I also didn't buy the witness's abrupt change of heart, from a tough alcoholic who didn't care about saving a guy's life to a girl with a heart of gold. I would've given this mess one star, but I added a couple of stars because I love trains. If you want to see a vastly superior comedy train mystery, find "Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone."
GManfred
This is a pretty good entry in the Mike Shayne series. I say pretty good because there are a couple of better ones than this one. It starts off on good footing - a witness is traveling to a trial on a train, in disguise and in the care of Mike Shayne. Naturally, there are a few others on the train with a great deal of interest in uncovering this witness. Then follows the usual hijinks and shenanigans that take place on a train with sleeping cars; people coming in and out of compartments looking for this one and that, shady characters searching for passengers, people breaking into compartments, etc.Several reviewers have compared this film to "The Narrow Margin", but from this point on, "Sleepers" and " Margin" differ significantly, as "Sleepers" begins to lose its luster as well as the slight amount of tension it has built up. I disagree with some reviewers that "Narrow Margin" was copied on this picture, as that movie was taut and tense right to the end, with Charles McGraw of the scowling countenance in the role played by Nolan here. "Sleepers" goes off on a tangent - the witness (Mary Beth Hughes) has fallen in love with a man who has stumbled into her compartment (Louis Jean Heydt, out of character as a good-natured slob instead of a sneak), they leave the train with the help of a passenger, and from here on the film limps to a crowd-pleasing, pablum ending so characteristic of B movies.Lloyd Nolan is, as always, stalwart and more charismatic than at any other time in his career as Shayne, which is the main reason to watch this entertaining series. I just wished they could have come up with a better way to end matters, like "The Narrow Margin" did.
MartinHafer
I've seen several Michael Shayne films and overall I'd have to say that Lloyd Nolan did a good job of playing the detective but that the studio gave him rather feeble scripts. Fortunately, this one is a bit better and is like a lesser version of the great Noir film, THE NARROW MARGIN.The film begins with Shayne getting ready to go on a train. At about the same time, a lady is brought aboard on a stretcher and you find out later that she's actually in disguise--with a wig and posing as a sick woman. In reality, Shayne is bringing her to San Francisco to testify in a case where an innocent man is going to jail unless she appears in court. However, at the same time, there are political forces that will do just about anything to make sure she doesn't make it.At the same time, there are several plots and subplots. Some, such as the scum-bag who boards the train looking for the lady, work well. Others, such as the major portion of the film about a female reporter don't work as well, as they seem to deflect from the plot as well as make the film seem "cute". I think that maintaining the gritty realism (more like THE NARROW MARGIN) would have made the movie even better, but still it was exciting and well done--a better than average B-detective film.
donofthedial
I just saw SLEEPERS WEST and it has little or no relation to a 'good film'. It's hilariously all over the map (haha) with completely improbable characters dropping in. The "farm woman" was a great example of that.There are long stretches of the short film where the actors are pretty much on their own simply filling the film out while trying to be charming. The Louis Jean Heydt and Mary Beth Hughes characters just ramble their sad stories and histories to each other for no real reason. Nolan and Bari stay in there and keep throwing punches from beginning to end. At least Bari and Hughes are pretty. The train setting is nice. Some of the other MS films have snappy cars. I think I saw a LaSalle in MS-PD.I ID'd 3 of the black actors, Ben, Mantan and Snowflake. They all were in so many films. And there was George Chandler as the rube with the car. He was head of the SAG once.Bari and Hughes were in ORCHESTRA WIVES together.That was one weird close up of LJH looking at MBH at one point.Really not much one can say. Nice, crisp B&W! :) Anyway, it is pointless to attack and impossible to defend these paper-thin 'mysteries'. They are very disposable and if they had never been filmed, the world would be pretty much the same.
AD
