An overly verbose screenplay all but sinks this otherwise standard whodunit from Poverty Row company Reliable Pictures Corp. A reform-minded but hardheaded chief of police, James Sullivan (
James Farley) has a yen for making enemies of both colleagues and family members, including daughter Diane (
Claudia Dell), whose romance with plainclothes detective Dan Burke (
Lloyd Hughes) is met with stern disapproval. Sullivan, however, is brutally murdered by a dart laced with curare and the same fate befalls the attending physician (Francis Sayles). Enter noted criminologist Professor David Graham (top-billed
Reginald Denny), whose investigation soon points the finger directly at Lieutenant Burke. But is Burke guilty or is someone else behind the killings? A Spanish language version, El Crimen del Media Noche, was filmed simultaneously and starred Ramon Pereda, Adriana Lamar, and Juan Torena in the roles originally played by Denny, Dell, and Hughes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide