THE CARIBBEAN MYSTERY

US, 1945, 65 minutes, Black-and-white.
James Dunn, Sheila Ryan, Edward Ryan, Jackie Paley, Reed Hadley, Roy Roberts, Robert Shaw, William Forrest, Roy Gordon.
Directed by Robert D.Webb.

This is a small budget murder mystery from 20th Century Fox at the end of World War II. It is not particularly good or interesting. There are plenty of murders but the film is also corny. This is because of the casting of James Dunn as the central investigator, a wise cracking detective from Brooklyn going into the towns and jungles of the Caribbean. Dunn plays a lot of his performance for laughs which rather detracts from everybody else looking so serious, and everybody suspects for the murders.

There is an oil exploratory company on the island with its headquarters but, seemingly sinister. Two archaeologists are initially murdered and the local police blame the quicksand and the alligators. There are various characters who could be suspects for the murders, controlling the oil company and the search for pirate treasure. They include the governor, his son, his secretary, the local doctor, the police chief, assistant police…

Unfortunately, this leads to only moderate interest in the characters, the murders, and the motivations. And, with the governor's son, there is a touch of romance.

There are shootings, knife throwing, attacks in the jungle, and the final gathering of all the suspects and a revelation.

James Dunn made this film just after he made A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.