That Harriet Nelson (aka Hilliard) could even be suspected of murder seems sacrilegious. What would Ozzie Nelson say or David and Rickey. After all, her sweet tempered, sensible mother was one of the iconic moms of the 1950's (1). Oh well, she does show an edgier side here as the hotel manager. All in all, results look like she was a fine actress whose all-around talent was seldom tapped.
The movie itself is a fairly routine Falcon. Seems a war bond scam is going on at the hotel, but who's behind it and how does it tie in with a series of murders. Leave it to the Falcon to sort out, along with his humorously dim-witted sidekick, Goldie (Edwards). There's plenty of eye candy for the guys. And since this is in the middle of the big war (1943), I expect the girl- heavy cast was for the guys in uniform. In fact, Erford Gage (Rickey) was killed in action near war's end. Note too that the director is Ed Dmytryck who went on to direct such noir classics as Murder, My Sweet (1944) and Crossfire (1947). Catch some of that style in the shadowy lighting and odd camera angle.
Anyway, the plot's pretty convoluted, but that's not the main draw, for me at least. Instead, it's the suave Conway, snappy throwaway lines, and, of course, the comely girls, which makes this latter a special treat.
(1) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, (1952-1966)