Movie Review: Three on a Ticket (1947) directed by Sam Newfield
Private investigator Michael “Mike” Shayne (Hugh Beaumont) has just arrived at his office when his secretary Phyllis “Phil” Hamilton (Cheryl Walker) tells him he has an appointment with a prospective client, Jim Lacy (Brooks Benedict). Lacy is a private eye from the East Coast that Mike briefly knew, with a shady reputation. When Mr. Lacy arrives, however, he’s a walking dead man who doesn’t even get the chance to croak out a final word. Mike finds a scrap of paper, part of a baggage claim, held tightly in the dead man’s hand. He directs Phil to pretend Mike was never here today when she calls the police.
When Mike arrives back at the office “late”, he pumps the cops for information, but Inspector Pete Rafferty (Ralph Dunn) is pretty sure Mike’s up to something and withholding information of his own. To be fair, Rafferty’s correct even if he’s being a jerk about it.
Then Mike gets a new client, Helen Brimstead (Louise Currie) who needs help dealing with her blackmailing ex-husband, escaped robbery convict Mace Morgan (Douglas Fowley). She wants to marry again, but Morgan is threatening to smear her with involvement with his last robbery, the money from which was never recovered. Mr. Lacy was supposed to be helping her with this, but he wasn’t licensed in California and was supposed to be contacting Mike Shayne for her. While Mike is willing to negotiate a solution for her, Helen seems more interested in the possibility of Mace getting shot in self-defense.
To make matters more complicated, federal agent Pearson (Gavin Gordon) suspects Morgan and Lacy to have branched out into espionage, having stolen plans for a new secret weapon, and there are other criminals, led by “Trigger” (Noel Cravat). attempting to get their hands on that partial baggage check.
Mike’s playing this one extra-cagey, holding out on information that could clear his name quickly, and seemingly angling for a huge payout, to the point that even his reporter friend Tim Rourke (Paul Bryar) loses faith in him.
This is a pleasingly twisty plot, managing to fill about an hour with almost no dead spots. My main gripe is that it requires Mike to not trust Phil or Tim with vital information so that there’s more chances for misunderstandings.
An amusing bit is that Mike is constantly eating peanuts and discarding the shells. A running gag is people searching him and tossing peanuts and shells aside in disgust.
Content note: Gunfire (lethal) and fisticuffs. There’s a notable moment where Mike chooses not to take a gun with him. Torture (off-camera).
This is a decent enough short mystery, good for a rainy day or as a double feature with another mystery movie. Most recommended to private eye fans.
