Richard Denning is an actor pretty much forgotten today. However, back in the 40s and 50s, he played rugged leading men in B-movies--as well as the Governor throughout the old "Hawaii Five-O" series. Here he plays a rather different role--an angry parent trying to hold on to his adopted daughter. It seems that a recent murder is somehow connected with a bizarre plot to try to overturn the adoption--even though it occurred seven years earlier. Why--and who is behind all this? Denning is ticked and determined to find out--even if it kills him.This is a very low budget film. It's pretty obvious--especially since you'll see Sid Melton in a small part--and his appearances are ALWAYS in cheapo productions! However, for a lower budgeted film, it actually is pretty interesting and worth seeing--even if the plot is awfully far-fetched. And Denning does a fine job--as does the child actress. My only gripe is the creepy plot device where the kid keeps talking about one day marrying Al--a 50 year-old guy! And, he talks about it too! Yikes!!

Lady at Midnight (1948)Another Sam Newfield low budget and low quality film. Why watch any of these really sometimes miserable films? Because of themes that get handled, and for occasional moments that rise up. This one is not bad in many ways, even if it's not exactly great. Most of all it's not pretentious. Here the thrust of the plot is interesting--a couple with a young adopted child finds that the biological mother wants the kid back. And there is a legal problem with how the adoption was handled years before.This is pretty heartbreaking stuff. Too bad the parents are more likable than convincing in their shock at possibly losing their child. The star is really the little girl, who is cheerful and sad and clever as needed. And so you do really feel for her when she learns she might have to leave her parents. There's a memorable scene where the detective gets into a talk with the girl in the house kitchen, and they start talking guns, and the girl knows more about tommy guns than the cop. It's great, for a minute.A wrinkle in this whole enterprise (and a good one) is that a woman snuck into the house in the opening scenes and talked to the girl (at midnight). And then she is found murdered the next morning. So this leads to a bit of danger, and in an homage to James Cagney, we see the main character (the dad) appear at an open door and fall forward and crash to the floor. It's all in fun, and it succeeds that far.

This is a quaint 62 minute mystery/drama. Radio news announcer Peter Wiggins(Richard Denning)is home in bed with his wife Ellen(Frances Rafferty)when 4-year-old adopted daughter Tina(Lora Lee Mitchell)is awakened by a mysterious shadowy figure claiming to be one of the girl's close relatives. Ellen did hear footsteps coming up and down the stairs and a door shut. Peter reluctantly gets out of bed and talks to the little girl. When the announcer gets to work the next morning, he learns of the big news about the death of one of the town's wealthiest women. It just so happens she lived in the Wiggins neighborhood and her description matches that of little Tina's mysterious visitor. Other players include: Ralph Dunn, Nana Bryant, William Gould and Sid Melton.

Any movie that shows a child using a gas stove unattended and playing with a detective's gun can NOT be all that bad! Hey, this movie is straight forward, honest '48 entertainment. The cast, replete with an obnoxiously sweet little girl, is excellent and a lot of them are recognizable character actors of the time. The movie is a gem as a study of mid-40 home decorating, clothes, manners and attitudes. But there's a bonus, it's entertaining. Footsteps are heard at midnight by an alert mother. The parents go their child across the hall. The tyke swears that a pretty lady sat on her bed and told her she was adopted. Naturally, they don't take her seriously until things develop to where they find out someone might be trying to take their adopted daughter away and the father feels he must hire a private eye. There are enough false leads to keep you guessing until the end. I'm glad I watch this movie.