Tonight's Movie: Strange Affair (1944)

STRANGE AFFAIR one of my favorite types of movies, a comedic mystery with an adoring husband and wife detective team. This particular film is on the silly side, but I nonetheless found it pleasant company, especially as I enjoy the lead actors.

This Columbia movie reunites Allyn Joslyn and Evelyn Keyes, who played husband-wife detectives in the previous year's DANGEROUS BLONDES (1943).

Bill (Joslyn) and Jacqueline (Keyes) bear a striking resemblance to Barry and Jane of DANGEROUS BLONDES -- their names even begin with the same letters. It's a mystery in and of itself why this wasn't simply a straight-out sequel to DANGEROUS BLONDES, but perhaps there were legal reasons.

The plot is a slightly confusing mishmash about a murder at a banquet. I didn't try very hard to keep the plot straight, and instead enjoyed the interplay of Joslyn and Keyes along with the parade of actors appearing in this 78-minute film.

Marguerite Chapman plays a femme fatale type, wearing killer gowns by Jean Louis. Nina Foch is the good girl whose doctor father disappears. Edgar Buchanan plays an exasperated homicide detective, with Frank Jenks as a police sergeant. Arthur Space, a favorite of mine, plays a police chemist.

Alfred E. Green directed.

STRANGE AFFAIR is not available on DVD or video, but it has been shown in a beautiful print on Turner Classic Movies.

Update: This movie is now available on DVD-R from Sony/Columbia.