kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** It's handsome and hot shot private eye Johnny Strange, Warren Douglas, who gets to the bottom of this very strange and confusing murder case by having all the suspects, five in all, attend a radio show where he'll expos the killer live and on the air. Thats's, since it's 1946 and before the Miranda Decision, without informing the killer of his rights to keep quite and get an attorney and if he can afford one a shyster, lawyer, will be provided to him for on taxpayers expense. This all stems from the murder of newspaper gossip columnist Tony Fitch's who has the goods on a number of big shots in the city that if exposed may well embarrass them.It's no big surprise to who exactly did Fitch is since everyone of the five had a motive to murder him. It's just that his eventual killer was the last, like in most of these whodunit flicks, person you would have suspected to have murder the guy. Not too convincing of an ending with with Fitch's killer suddenly grabbing a policeman'a revolver and thus admitting his or her guilt. It was more of a reason that the killer finally decided to end this very boring detective movie and finally, for those of us who are condemned to watch or review it, put and end to our suffering.There's of course pretty blond secretary Gerry Smith, Adele Mara, who's boss Johnny Strange at first tries to hit on and later accuse her of murdering Fitch just to draw his real murderer out into the open. There's also former 1920's and early 1930's Latin lover, who's actually Jewish, Ricardo Cortez as gangster and part time night club owner Duke York who claims throughout the movie that he knows who Fitch's killer is but keeps his mouth shut on his identity. And at the end of the film, if your still awake, you'll find out why!

classicsoncall The current reviews for "The Inner Circle" on this board are about evenly divided, so I'll put my two cents in on the side of the positives. I thought the picture was better than it had a right to be given the usual cheapo treatment given these B programmers of the era. The hook for me occurred right in the opening scene introducing Johnny Strange of Action Incorporated in unusual fashion utilizing his business ad in the local phone directory. But it got better, when beautiful blonde Geraldine Smith (Adele Mara) answers a want-ad in progress from Johnny Strange himself (Warren Douglas), hanging up the phone and hiring herself on the spot. What Miss Smith was soon to learn was that "A secretary to Johnny Strange is no picnic...".For a film coming in at under an hour, this one sure has a lot of characters, understandable given the nature of the story. You had to spread the murder suspects around to keep the viewer guessing, and it isn't until half way into the picture that we learn that the murder victim, a gossip personality on radio, had a blackmail sideline going for him to supplement his income. A hundred grand to keep a senator's daughter out of the headlines seems like a pricey sum to me for 1946, but hey, any politician worth his weight could probably have come up with it. The other likely suspects include a torch singer (Virginia Christine), a housekeeper (Dorothy Adams), the gardener (Will Wright), and secretary extraordinaire, Miss Smith herself.In order to solve the case, Johnny Strange pulls a page out of the Charlie Chan play book, and brings all the suspects together for a live radio broadcast to smoke out the killer. Even with Johnny's explanation of how he was able to put it all together, it doesn't ring quite true, but beyond that, the flick winds up a nifty little time filler with an entertaining cast of characters. You've got your snappy banter between the principals, and with a little more work it might have elevated to the level of classic screwball comedy. Still and all, it's a pleasant diversion, and worth the effort. Oh yeah, can't forget William Frawley as the luckless detective, exhibiting some of the traits that would make him the Ricardo's favorite neighbor a few more years down the road.

MartinHafer The film begins with Johnny Strange looking to place an ad for Action Incorporated. He's a fast-talking private eye sort of fellow and I really liked the first ten minutes or so when he met up with a new (and quite bewildering) secretary. He soon gets a case involving a very mysterious woman—a woman who wants him to dump a body. But, when he refuses, she klunks him on the head and calls the police to report the murder—then disappears. The inspector (William Frawley) eventually is ready to arrest Strange when his odd secretary manages to save his skin. But who is this mysterious lady and how can Strange get to the bottom of this? Tune in to this B-movie….if you are interested.This low-budget B-mystery isn't great, but it is enjoyable. As for the plot, it's mostly familiar stuff but the part of the secretary was wonderful and breathed life into this otherwise ordinary plot. In addition, old movie nuts (like me) will enjoy seeing Ricardo Cortez in one of his last movie roles. Despite being a suave leading man in the 1930s, his movie prospects dried up in the 1940s and he went into business—and amassed quite a fortune outside of Hollywood.

dbborroughs Johnny Strange of Action Incorporated is interrupted by a beautiful woman while placing an ad for a secretary. She hangs up on the newspaper and takes the job. When a mysterious call comes in not long after Johnny finds himself knocked out and framed for the murder of a sleazy radio show announcer (ala Walter Winchell). Johnny must now try to solve the case before he ends up behind bars for the murder.This is a fast moving mystery thriller with a smart ass attitude and a never ending stream of one liners. Running around 55 minutes this movie starts from the first frame and zips right on by to the last. To be certain the film shows signs of a reduced budget, there are only so many sets, but the film over comes the limitations by being very witty. The cast which includes William Frawley as a cop, Ricardo Cortez as suspect William Douglas as Johnny and first (?) billed Adele Mara as the secretary is first rate. The rest of the cast is filled out with many familiar faces and they all come together to make what could have and should have been a less than sterling little mystery into something that is actually quite enjoyable.Definitely worth a bowl of popcorn and a soda (especially on a multi feature evening on a rainy night)