Cover Up (1949)

Cover Up (1949)

starring William Bendix, Dennis O'Keefe, Barbara Britton

directed by Alfred E. Green

82 minutes

Sam Donovan (Dennis O'Keefe), an insurance investigator, travels first by train and then by bus to a small town outside of Chicago. He meets Anita Weatherby (Barbara Britton) as they are getting off the train and boarding a bus. He meets her parents and her younger sister once they get to town.

Sam goes to see Sheriff Best (William Bendix) after parting ways with Anita and her relatives. Sam is there to investigate the suicide of Phillips, a man who was insured for $20,000. He wants to make sure that it was really a suicide because if it was murder then the benefit doubles to $40,000.

Sheriff Best isn't very helpful. The coroner is out of town and has yet to issue a report on the death of Phillips. The Sheriff likewise has yet to write up a report on the deah. Sam initiates his own investigation, despite Sheriff Best's suggestion that he just wait for the coroner to return.

Sam decides to go see Anita after he determines that it wasn't suicide but can't get any further than that. He takes Anita to the movies. They have a nice time together.

Sam continues to investigate what he has decided must be murder but everyone he talks to, including Anita, seems to want him to stop. It becomes clear that no one in town liked Phillips. 

A number of people emerge as possible suspects including Phillips' niece and her husband, Anita's father, and Sheriff Best. Anita grows worried that her father might become the prime suspect and takes action to try and protect him. 

Sam eventually and inadvertently solves the case after he sets a trap for the killer.

Thoughts

This movie was a lot of fun to watch. It is noir but it is also more than noir. There are no flashbacks or voice over narration. The tone is sometimes serious but on the whole it is fairly light.

I saw Cover Up at the AFI where it was introduced by Jeremy Arnold. He made it clear that this was not a noir through and through, which is true. The reveal of the killer's identity left me a little disappointed. It felt like a bit of a cheat but I'm not sure how else they could have ended it given the constraints put on films in the late 1940s.

This movie was worth my time. I laughed on a number of occasions. It is available on YouTube.