Scotland Yard Investigator

Secrets of Scotland Yard
Directed by George Blair
Produced by Armand Schaefer
George Blair
Written by Randall Faye
Starring Edgar Barrier
Stephanie Bachelor
C. Aubrey Smith
Lionel Atwill
Music by Charles Maxwell
Cinematography William Bradford
Ernest Miller
Edited by Fred Allen
Production
company
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release dates
 20 September 1945
Running time
 68 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Scotland Yard Investigator is a 1945 American crime film directed by George Blair and starring C. Aubrey Smith, Erich von Stroheim and Stephanie Bachelor.[1] Following the outbreak of the Second World War the Mona Lisa is moved to a London gallery for safekeeping, where a German art collector attempts to steal it. The film was a loose sequel to Republic's 1944 thriller Secrets of Scotland Yard with a number of the same cast and crew.

Plot Summary

When Paris is liberated during World War II, the Louvre administration plans to fetch the Mona Lisa from its safehouse in the National Art Gallery in London. The man in charge of the Mona Lisa's safety is none other than Sir James Collison, director of the National Gallery. In regards to the safety of the Mona Lisa, Collison works closely together with his granddaughter Tony.

While the National Gallery plans to safely retirn the painting, infamous art collector Carl Hoffmeyer, known as the "Raffles of the art World", plans to steal it. He has stolen many fine pieces before, but this would certainly be the crown jewel of his collection.

Hoffmeyer's plan includes his two henchmen, Henri and Jules, who pose as the people from the Louvre arriving to collect the painting. But when Hoffmeyer gets his hands on it he concludes it is a forgery. He is unsure whether the gallery director is in on the scam, so he pays him a visit, reveals his part in the theft and tells the director of his suspicion. By Collison's reaction, Hoffmeyer concludes he was unaware of the scam.

Hoffmeyer suspects a dodgy art dealer named Sam Todworthy of orchestrating the theft of the real Mona Lisa, and pays him a visit. Sam had told Hoffmeyer before the attempt to steal the painting, that is might not be the real one still hanging in the gallery.

Prior to Hoffmeyer's visit, Sam and his wife Emma gets a visit from a French man by the name of Anton Miran. He is the brother of one of the two men sent from the Louvre to leave the painting to the London gallery in the first place, and he is the one who took it and gave it to Sam. Now he wants the painting back, but Sam refuses to give it to him. Sam kills Miran and hides the body, just before Hoffmeyer comes to visit.

Sam offers to sell the painting to Hoffmeyer for £100,000, but Hoffmeyer just laughs in Sam's face and turns down the offer. As soon as Hoffmeyer leaves the art gallery, he orders his men to kill Sam and get the painting.

When Jules refuses to take part in the killing of Sam, Hoffmeyer kills him with a sword hidden in his cane. When Jules' body is found a few days later, Scotland Yard begins to investigate the murder.

Sam troes to sell the Mona Lisa back to the gallery instead, showing it to Collison the day after Hofmeyer's visit. Collison is tempted to buy it, to avoid the scandal that would ensue when the French and the media got the word of the famous painting vanishing. His granddaughter advises him to contact the police instead.

Collison decides to try and raise the money needed to buy the painting back. When he has left the museum, Tony gets a call from the director of the Louvre, Professor Renault, telling her that the two men he sent out to collect the painting has been kidnapped. He will instead come to collect the painting in person.

Tony talks to her fiancé, Inspector Bob Cartwright of the Scotland Yard, who is also in charge of the investigation of Jules' murder. Bob talks to Collison, but since Collison is quite convinced that the painting would be in danger if the police tightened the noose around Sam, be doesn't tell Bob the name of the person who has the painting in his possession.

Sam is murdered before either the police or Collison gets to him. Collison rightfully suspects Hoffmeyer of the murder, so Bob brings him in for questioning. There is no proof that he is the killer, and he denies having anything to do with either of the two murders.

Hoffmeyer is let loose, but Collison sneaks into his house at night, trying to retrieve the painting. Hoffmeyer interceots him and pulls out the sword from his cane, forcing him to follow him to his study, where he keeps the painting. Sam's wife Emma suddenly turns up and shoots Hoffmeyer to venge her husband. Hoffmeyer manages to run his sword theough her chest, and they are both mortally wounded. Hoffmeyer tries to slash the Mona Lisa with his sword, but is stopped by Collison.

After this showdown, Tony and Bob arrive to the scene and tale the painting. They bring it to the airport, where Renault is meeting them. He gets the real Mona Lisa instead of the fake one he had got earlier.

The fake is hung on Collison's wall, and years later he sits underneath it and tells his grand grandson about the adventure that brought it there.[2]

Main cast

Bibliography

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Scotland Yard Investigator (1945) | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  2. ↑ "Scotland Yard Investigator (1945) - Overview". TCM.com. Retrieved 2014-08-24.