Kid Glove Killer **** (1942, Van Heflin, Marsha Hunt, Lee Bowman, Samuel S Hinds) – Classic Movie Review 7243

Debut director Fred Zinnemann’s finely honed, tensely atmospheric 1942 film noir suspense thriller Kid Glove Killer stars Van Heflin, who gives a nifty turn in an early star role as Gordon McKay, a police forensic expert who uncovers the killer of the town mayor (Samuel S Hinds).

Zinnemann’s drama rises about its humble status as a little Forties MGM B-movie support feature, profitably concentrating on the forensic evidence procedures of the day, with the kind of spare direction you used to get when talented film-makers made 75-minute movies.

Kid Glove Killer features neat acting from Lee Bowman, Marsha Hunt, Samuel S Hinds, Eddie Quillan, Cliff Clark and John Litel, and the added bonus of the star-spotting allure of a fleeting appearance, with a mere couple of lines, of Ava Gardner as a car-hop waitress.

Also in the cast are Catherine (Cathy) Lewis, Nella Walker, James Flavin, Jeff York, Paul Fix and Leon Belasco.

Kid Glove Killer is directed by Fred Zinnemann, runs 75 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by John C Higgins and Allen Rivkin, based on a story by John C Higgins, is shot in black and white by Paul C Vogel, is produced by Jack Chertok and scored by David Snell.

Now this is good – it was humble, yes, but also profitable. It cost $199,000, but earned $336,000 in the US and Canada and $214,000 elsewhere on its initial release (that’s $550,000), making MGM a profit of $161,000.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7243

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