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Community reviews
From TMDb members · 1 total- CinemaSerf6/10
For some reason, this starts with and features a slightly Scottish lilt to the score throughout, as we follow the slightly zany investigations of the eponymous down-at-heel PI (Lloyd Nolan) as he tries to wade his way through the murky worlds of horse racing, gaming addicts and,…
Full text & links on TMDb in the reviews section below.
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Michael Shayne: Private Detective
66%
Movie
1h 17m
AI Analysis
Michael Shayne: Private Detective (1940) — AI movie analysis
WatchMind AI generated this AI analysis of Michael Shayne: Private Detective (1940) — a movie tagged as Comedy and Mystery with funny and tense moods and steady pacing.
Story & themes: Millionaire sportsman Hiram Brighton hires gumshoe Michael Shayne to keep his spoiled daughter Phyllis away from racetrack betting windows and roulette wheels. After Phyllis slips away and continues her compulsive gambling, Shayne fakes the murder of her gambler boyfriend, who is also romancing the daughter of casin… Our models also surface themes such as identity and ai from synopsis and genre signals.
Watch context: Best suited for date night, solo focused viewing, and casual background watching. Expect steady storytelling (~77 min).
Community signal: TMDb members rate Michael Shayne: Private Detective 66% (12 votes) — solid community ratings for this movie.
AI verdict
Use this AI analysis as a quick read on Michael Shayne: Private Detective before you watch — trailer, TMDb reviews, and licensed streaming links on this page help you decide.
Algorithmic AI analysis from genres, synopsis, pacing heuristics, and TMDb community scores — not a generative chatbot. How WatchMind works.
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TMDb audience score
66%
from 12 TMDb votes
WatchMind sentiment
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Synopsis
Millionaire sportsman Hiram Brighton hires gumshoe Michael Shayne to keep his spoiled daughter Phyllis away from racetrack betting windows and roulette wheels. After Phyllis slips away and continues her compulsive gambling, Shayne fakes the murder of her gambler boyfriend, who is also romancing the daughter of casino owner Benny Gordon, in order to frighten her. When the tout really ends up murdered, Shayne and Phyllis' Aunt Olivia, an avid reader of murder mysteries, both try to find the identity of the killer.
Quick facts
- Type
- Movie
- Status
- Released
- Release date
- 1940-12-19
- Runtime
- 1h 17m
- TMDB rating
- 6.6
- TMDB ID
- 121992
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Frequently asked questions
Where can I watch Michael Shayne: Private Detective (1940)?
Michael Shayne: Private Detective is available for discovery on WatchMind. You can find official links to rent, buy, or stream from licensed digital stores like Apple TV and Amazon in our "Where to Watch" section.
Is there an official trailer for Michael Shayne: Private Detective?
Yes, you can watch the official trailer for Michael Shayne: Private Detective directly on this page. We pull the latest video metadata from TMDb and play it via YouTube integration.
What is Michael Shayne: Private Detective about?
Millionaire sportsman Hiram Brighton hires gumshoe Michael Shayne to keep his spoiled daughter Phyllis away from racetrack betting windows and roulette wheels. After Phyllis slips away and continue... This is the official synopsis available via TMDb community metadata.
Is there an AI analysis for Michael Shayne: Private Detective?
Yes. WatchMind publishes an AI analysis on this page — tone, pacing, audience fit, and community scores from TMDb metadata and recommendation models (not a chatbot). Scroll to the AI Analysis section or read the meta description summary.
How long is the movie Michael Shayne: Private Detective?
The official runtime for Michael Shayne: Private Detective is approximately 77 minutes.
Cast & crew
Names and photos from The Movie Database (TMDb). Follow links on themoviedb.org for full filmographies.
Directors & writers
Cast
Lloyd Nolan
Michael Shayne
Marjorie Weaver
Phyllis Brighton
Joan Valerie
Marsha Gordon
Walter Abel
Elliott Thomas
Elizabeth Patterson
Aunt Olivia
Donald MacBride
Chief Peter Painter
Douglass Dumbrille
Benny Gordon (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Clarence Kolb
Hiram P. Brighton
George Meeker
Harry Grange
Charles Coleman
Ponsby
Adrian Morris
Al
Robert Emmett Keane
Larry Kincaid
Frank Orth
Steve
Irving Bacon
Fisherman
Don Brodie
Reporter (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
Racetrack Spectator in Sunglasses (uncredited)
Jimmy Aubrey
Mac
Paul E. Burns
Furniture Company Move
Audience notes
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Community reviews
Written by TMDb members — same catalogue as our movie & TV metadata. API terms
For some reason, this starts with and features a slightly Scottish lilt to the score throughout, as we follow the slightly zany investigations of the eponymous down-at-heel PI (Lloyd Nolan) as he tries to wade his way through the murky worlds of horse racing, gaming addicts and, of course, murder! He's initially retained by the wealthy "Brighton" (Clarence Kolb) to rein in his unruly daughter "Phyllis" (Marjorie Weaver) but as the bodies start to pile up and he finds that he has to stay clear of the suspecting police chief "Painter" (Donald MacBride) we find ourselves in quite an entertainingly internecine mess of who did what and why? No absence of suspects and no shortage of crimes to suspect them of - all good fun! The star is really Elizabeth Patterson as the sleuthing "Aunt Olivia" whom, with her butler "Ponsby" (Charles Coleman) provide quite a lively conduit to bring the themes together at the end of what is quite a quickly paced eighty minutes. The denouement is a bit far-fetched - you probably wouldn't ever guess it - but Nolan is on good form with some quick-witted, dry, dialogue to deliver and there is a good chemistry between him, Weaver and MacBride as the story clears each fence. It's much better than I was expecting!
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