The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

As other writers have said, all that seems to remain of this film is the greatly edited 53 minute TV version of what was once nearly 20 minutes longer. Certain details and characters mentioned make no sense because of these cuts, but if you pay close enough attention, you can get past that error in judgment and make a bit of sense of what remains. The first question that came to my mind is "Who is Jimmy Valentine, and why is everybody trying to find him?" That is covered with the opening segment that shows a quaint small town where everybody knows everybody, nobody seems to fight, and even the chickens can cross the road without fear of not getting successfully to the other side. But the identity of this mystery man is questioned, with the only information provided that Jimmy Valentine was once the greatest cracksman (safe cracker) that the country had ever seen, and for some unknown reason, everybody thinks that he's hiding out in this quaint hamlet.National radio personality Dennis O'Keefe arrives in town with the intention of exposing the real identity of Valentine, accompanied by his wise-cracking girlfriend Gloria Dickson who places a bet with him that he will not be able to find out whom Valentine is posing as. Local radio station owner Roman Bohnen and his enthusiastic daughter Ruth Terry welcome O'Keefe to town, and this creates some tension between the wisecracking Dickson and the barely past teenaged Terry who makes her interest in O'Keefe known from the start. Then there's O'Keefe's mysteriously creepy assistant (George E. Stone) who just looks odd from the start, various other villagers determined to keep their criminal pasts a secret, and several murders that occur within a short period of time that all seem to point at the elusive Jimmy Valentine. This thriller comedy might be short on details thanks to the edited footage, but provides plenty of laughs and excitement with what remains, with a few nice twists at the end. I'd gladly give up my much edited copy to find the original full print, and might even be willing to up my rating when I do, because most of this film is rather good, if just badly chopped up for no other reason than station identification and those dreaded TV commercials.

Not copyrighted by Republic Pictures Corp. No recorded New York opening. U.S. release: 31 March 1942. Australian release through Associated-British Empire Films: 30 July 1942. Australian release length: 6,651 feet. 74 minutes.Title of condensed (to 53 minutes) TV version: UNFORGOTTEN CRIME.COMMENT: Who said that DVD and online sites of all descriptions were going to bring back all our favorite films in all their original glory? This certainly hasn't happened with "The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine". Brilliantly directed and superbly photographed, all we have in the mutilated Public Domain DVD version is an indication of the "B" masterpiece that Republic originally released. Unfortunately, Republic failed to copyright the film and this meant that anybody - even you and me - could make copies of the movie and sell these copies in any form we wished, including whole and entire or cut to ribbons. So beware, and don't bother to look at the cut-to-ribbons "Unforgotten Crime". Someone, somewhere, must have a copy of the real "Affairs of Jimmy Valentine". Just look at that cast line-up. And photographed by John Alton too!

My review is for the shortened version of this film. Apparently, to fit the movie into a TV time slot, some bozo decided to simply drop two of the reels entirely...none the supposedly wiser! Well, this made the film a bit confusing and I STRONGLY recommend you try to find the full film! Dennis O'Keefe plays radio personality Mike Jason. As a publicity stunt, he decides to offer a reward to anyone who can uncover where Jimmy Valentine is currently. It seems that long, long ago, Valentine was a master criminal and after his release from prison, he's simply dropped off the face of the Earth. His trail leads to a small town where a lot of folks would just as soon have him drop the matter. But when someone is murdered, Mike realizes that Valentine and his old associates MIGHT be to blame!This is a very good film...at least what I saw of it. In fact, the ending was terrific and I would expect the film would earn a 7 or even 8 if the beginning wasn't a complete mess. Of course, you cannot blame the filmmakers...it's not their fault some idiots later hacked the film apart. Still worth seeing...but it does make me wish I knew where the other version can be seen--it's about 20 minutes longer.

In his landmark tome "B Movies", the normally reserved film historian Don Miller heaps two pages of praise on this small-town comedy-mystery, calling it the apogee of Republic Pictures' output. Unfortunately, it was not a success at the box office, and was cut to a mere 54 minutes for second feature and television distribution under the title "Unforgotten Crime". This is the version in circulation today (if anyone stumbles upon the full version, please inform!) -- obviously, much of the story set-up is missing, causing some of the plot and character motivations to be fuzzy. Nonetheless, it's still a boisterous and clever little programmer, with an infectiously enthusiastic cast of b-movie stalwarts. Much of the pleasure comes from the odd romantic triangle of womanizing (self-) promoter Dennis O'Keefe, the lively but naive teenager (Ruth Terry) who immediately goes gaga over him, and his sophisticated co-worker (Gloria Dickson), who radiates plenty of Eve Ardenish attitude and sarcasm. This was one of noir master John Alton's earliest gigs as cinematographer, and although it's not the most suitable material, he manages to give a striking pulp-magazine-cover aura to the crime scenes. In fact, one scene of mayhem involving a sexy manicurist is quite jarring amid the lighthearted Mayberry-like atmosphere. Director Vorhaus and Alton later teamed up for the more appropriately cynical "Bury Me Dead" and "The Spiritualist".