Frank Gruber's THE FRENCH KEY (1946)

[@shelleymcafee8197]

I enjoyed this very-much, too-bad it was the only book made into film. Thank-You!!

[@buxxbannerspov30]

I stumbled on the Johnny Fletcher mysteries around 1960 while in high school...am re-reading them now...Gruber was a very good writer of western novels also

[@Alan-rh1el]

Short and snappy very enjoyable.Nice to see Albert Dekker in a lighter role and Mike Mazurki as his side kick was perfect,thanks for posting.

[@tomperrone1846]

Here's bit of early TV trivia - the score to this film was written by Alexander Laszlo, whose music was also used in many early 1950's TV shows... Listen carefully to the background music during the cocktail lounge scene of this movie starting at 15:24 [listen carefully, the sound is not wonderful].. from 17:14 to 17:40, you can hear the theme music for the mid-1950s TV show "My Little Margie," whose theme Laszlo composed. The show also used other pieces of music Laszlo composed for 1940s films...

[@footfault]

Thanks for the interesting info.

[@abogadojon]

Good ear, TP! Others would not pick that up. I suspect that you are a songwriter. My theory is that composers' brains are hardwired with certain melodies or progressions that are revealed intermittently.

[@dalanmanbros8311]

Snappy yet with just enough grit to make this a homerun bit of suspenseful crime fun, with good performances by the cast. Really enjoyed this one. Thanks!

[@charlesodell804]

Mazurki made a career of playing dim witted brutes. He actually had a law degree, which you don 't get by being stupid. He said he went into pro wrestling because he could make about ten times more at it than by being a lawyer. He made over 100 films. A good man.

[@jimlaguardia8185]

Charles Odell Too bad he couldn’t act.

[@richardprior5139]

@@jimlaguardia8185 He was a good actor considering the parts he was given--consider him as Moose Malloy in a Phillip Marlowe mystery--I think it was Murder My Sweet

[@randquadrozzi1280]

Also started the cauliflower alley club for retired wrestlers who were broke.was great on adam 12 tossing reed and Malloy around then getting his butt whipped by his tiny loudmouth wife.

[@danielstanwyck2812]

Charlie Odell: Let's face it: What he did was perfect. He got his unique character down pat and played it to the hilt. Murder My Sweet prime example of his excellence.

[@keithharvey7230]

The wonderful Moose Malloy!

[@andrewcao1526]

Yeah Johnny so happy you thanks French key the end

[@joellyczak1322]

Frank Gruber writing the screenplay was a big plus and the casting was spot on of Fletcher and Cragg. Nice little mystery.

[@camdenfisher7467]

I guess im randomly asking but does anyone know of a method to get back into an instagram account? I stupidly lost the account password. I would love any assistance you can offer me

[@camdenfisher7467]

@Morgan Bjorn I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and Im trying it out now. Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@camdenfisher7467]

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[@morganbjorn1603]

@Camden Fisher Happy to help =)

[@davidcooper8480]

The actors make this move, quick hour very enjoyable

[@Yippekiyeah]

Thanks for this one, enjoyed . 😊

[@martinmcglone8456]

class, all the dialog is snappy and believable

[@deborahrigby5428]

I...I..I liked it soooo much💥💝🎉🎊💥Thank you for uploading ❣️💖😘😍🥰

[@Kidraver555]

Byron Foulger has appeared in possibly more movies than anyone in hollywood history, checkout his imdb stats.

[@SuperIliad]

The French Key (1946), released 18 May 1946 (USA). Albert Dekker as Johnny Fletcher, Mike Mazurki as Sam Cragg, Evelyn Ankers as Janet Morgan, John Eldredge as John Holterman, Frank Fenton, as Horatio Vedder, Selmer Jackson as Walter Winslow, Byron Foulger as Peabody, Joe DeRita as Detective Fox, Marjorie Manners as Betty Winslow, David Gorcey as Eddie Miller, Archie Twitchell(as Michael Branden) (as Michael Branden) as Murdock, Sammy Stein as Percy, Alan Ward as Madigan, Walter Soderling as George Polson, Emmett Vogan as Desk Clerk, Richard Arlen as Himself, George Chandler, Roomer, Bernard Gorcey, Little Man, Frank Moran, Listener to Sam's Story, Hugh Prosser as Swede.

[@richmcgee434]

Gruber was quite the writing machine, and his autobiographical memoir The Pulp Jungle is a fascinating window into what it was like to be a writer for the pulps. Well worth a read if you're a fan of the era.

[@nelsonx5326]

How are you so knowledgeable about such a niche? You must be a reader. My mother read lots of biographies and autobiographies about and by movie stars. I remember a copy of 'Harpo Speaks' on the book shelf forever. I'm writing a novel, my first. I'm so new to this I don't know what genre it is. A story about a schizophrenic rock star. His early days as lead guitarist for a glam rock band. Then it jumps to the present days and an adventure on a luxury yacht going halfway around the world from NYC to play a huge concert to save the planet from the globalists on an island off Cambodia. There's all kinds of craziness with his handlers, and him jumping in and out of personalities as concert day approaches. I can't tell if my book is trash or a potential masterpiece of humor. I wrote the first draft, about 500 pages easily, it just poured out of me. The second draft, the rewrite, now that is hard work. I'm doing it all on my own. Bought 20 books on the craft of writing, also purchased 3 writing programs, Microsoft Word, Grammarly, and Prowritingaid. It's been a major learning experience. I'm an old dog, 64, trying to learn a new trick. I'm trying to get a new career going that doesn't require muscle. I'm developing arthritis. If you have any tips for a budding writer I will welcome them. Good God, I can't imagine what it took to write a book before programs like word. I would guess that a writer had the craftsmanship of an artist; that a near finished version was in the first draft. It's hard enough of a job with all these modern writing tools. Be well in these strangest of times.

[@richmcgee434]

@@nelsonx5326 Reader I am and reader I'll be till my eyes rot out, and even then I'll probably consume audiobooks. :) I'm a big fan of the history of the pulp era, so i'm better acquainted with authors from the period than many folks. Think I can thank both my grandfather and author Ron Goulart for that interest. Many of them wrote what seem like impossible amounts of material, usually for very little pay - but since they were paid by the word, they had to work fast and hard or they'd have starved , maybe literally. And yes, all done on old manual typewriters, which I can barely remember using myself at age 55. How they did it i'll never know, but hunger is agood motivator. No real advice on writing, but I would suggest you look long and hard at the way publishing has changed since our youths. Traditional publishing is a very unhealthy industry and harder than ever to break in to, but e-publishing through print-on-demand, pdf sales, online postings through Patreon sponsorships and the like offer a lot of possibly-viable alternatives to finding an agent and a publishing house.

[@nelsonx5326]

@@richmcgee434 Hey hey, you're a good guy. I've something needs doing while the hardware store is open. Time to enter 'The Corona Zone'. Hope you're here when I get back. I want to talk about these things some. Maybe you can be my 'Beta Reader'. Do you know what a Beta reader is? I understand them to be valuable for a writer. If you're a big reader then you might enjoy getting to be the first to read a book in the works, and help guide and influence the direction and finishing of it. Let's chat later if this interests you. 'The Corona Zone', I like that! Strange times, it's like living in a movie now. Hope your life isn't being wrecked by it. Me, I've found a bit of freedom. Time to work on a variety of projects. Later McGator.

[@nelsonx5326]

Rick McGee, did you give it thought?

[@footfault]

Your comment spurred me to look for that book on eBay. There's one now posted by a Calif. seller, ONLY $875, marked down from $1,250. It's signed by the author, and includes The Hungry Years. Gruber said he could write a complete mystery novel in 16 days. Before his success, he spent many years collecting rejection slips. Check out the Wikipedia entry, fascinating life!!!

[@user-wc7mo9uo9o]

Very good mystery. It was a little hard to understand sometimes because of bad sound.

[@lgeubs]

The sound could be better, but I like this mystery! A fun, jaunty excursion.

[@michaelmiller2397]

Very enjoyable flick.

[@pentizel]

Based on characters in a series of pretty funny mystery novels.

[@renayandrew2635]

I like this one! Very much. Thanks (: Cute personalities and plot development.

[@Sch00lbu5]

DeRita at least got along with Moe and Larry, which the forgettable Stooge never did. He thought the 3 St was a big step backwards. DeRita thought it was one of the best gigs of his career.

[@j.g.c.2494]

look for leo gorcey's (mugs maginnis) brother, david gorcey as the bellhop.

[@steplumpkin5432]

THANKS UPLOADER!!!!!!

[@ritaruble5127]

This was a nice surprise

[@janejames9173]

What a nice movie🥰

[@richardprior5139]

Didn't Frank Gruber write a lot of westerns also?

[@leelarson107]

Albert Dekker was a very 'kinky' character. He died in the shower under VERY mysterious circumstances.

[@pressureworks]

Curly Joe was actually alright as a Stooge.

[@wilsonstone935]

Yeah, he was, it was Joe besser that made me cringe

[@pressureworks]

Jack Stone hey quit it, you make me so mad ! His catchphrase.

[@leelarson107]

I never liked the Stooges anyway. Moe Howard by himself was OK, as was Shemp Howard. But none of them were really funny. And Ted Healy, their boss until his death in 1937, was an alcoholic tightwad who screwed over the Stooges and paid them next to nothing while he made almost 1.5 Million a year.

[@pressureworks]

@@leelarson107 sorry to learn you've led a deprived life. Now recede.

[@oldfan1963]

good 🎥😊

[@mickeybitsko1676]

The coins later wound up for sale on Rick tomasks coin show

[@srinagardiary-lifeinkashmi5731]

in this movie at 13:41 the gag of the duo checking into a hotel with suitcases filled with bricks was copied in an popular Indian movie of that era regarding two scamsters16:45 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZywgolsgN14qKs

[@keithharvey7230]

The three stoogies were only popular in America which says it all.

[@auletjohnast03638]

HEY HEY HEY, ANYBODY HOME?

[@rootsrockers109]

I didnt find it all that. Gave up 30 minutes into the movie

[@mickeybitsko1676]

Dekker had strange death. Nude self hanging wit hands tied hind his back. This was after he served in CA legislature

[@shirleyrandle3138]

😋 good one thanks

[@waderaney7]

A good 🎥😊

[@pressureworks]

So a guy gets bumped off and an easily findable gold coin worth $10,00 is left behind. Old money is illegal ?

[@CJ-hz1uj]

Maybe he said gold money is illegal, at least at that time, perhaps because of something Roosevelt had done earlier.

[@pressureworks]

@@CJ-hz1uj so he doesn't mind committing the crime of murder, but getting caught with a gold piece ??? Not a chance he cares to take.

[@harrisbobroff9813]

I cannot figure out this new system of Comments :((((.. Not sure what I am sharing about what movie? O well. Another Boy Meets Girl, murder between the sheets, and who did it, I had no clue, but fun watching without even one guess this time!

[@frankscarlata2967]

Albert Decker fine actor Frank scarlata

[@leelarson107]

Albert Dekker was found dead in his bathtub in 1968. Obscene words were scrawled on his naked body. Everything suggested that he was involved in some really kinky stuff. Suicide was ruled out.

[@janejames9173]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@DateTwoRelate]

Mike Mazurki has rarely gotten more lines. While he is ill-suited for Shakespeare he does possess some comedic acting licks. See him best in the brilliant "Murder My Sweet" starring Dick Powell. PS By this time with horror films "screamed out" Evelyn Ankers made few pics and forced to act w poverty row studios like Republic.

[@eveyholmes]

I immediately recognized Evelyn Ankers, remembering The Wolf Man film and several other horror films. She was born in Chile . Married to actor Richard Denning until her death.

[@jjayaraman3191]

29nov2022 The French Key.1946.(Alb Dekker.Evelyn Ankers.)_1h4_6.3 .

[@33maple]

Look up how Albert Dekker died ...areal shocker

[@MrDmengel]

Well, he was an odd duck, now wasn't he?

[@donnaaranda7175]

The life as well 👀

[@leelarson107]

His reputation as a kinko preceded his death in 1968.

[@williamhagen2792]

The projector is running in the background. Not too annoying.

[@Hithere-ek4qt]

too annoying

[@ninajefferson9743]

2 Thumps up!

[@johnpritchard5410]

actors will do anything, for money....

[@deborahduthie4519]

Men looking into a Ladies purse or bag....is a definite No No.