Kenneth Magee (Phillip Terry) is a mystery writer on a deadline. He made a bet with Bentley, the owner of an isolated inn called Baldpate. The bet was for $5000 and it requires him to complete his novel in one night at the inn. On the train on his way to the inn the completed pages of his manuscript are stolen. The inn is closed for the winter so the owner gives him what he says is the only key. A young woman named Mary Jordan (Jacqueline White) enters the train station and tells Magee that his life is in danger if he goes to the inn. She then disappears.
Magee is a little unnerved but he heads on to the inn. When he gets there he finds a man named Cargan (Eduardo Cianneli) already there. Magee assumes he is the caretaker. Magee begins to write. Suddenly there is a scream. Mary shows up and says she saw a ghost. She begs to stay. Magee agrees to give her a room. He then goes back to work and is interrupted by the arrival of Pete the Hermit (Jimmy Conlin). While talking to Pete he sees Connie Lane (Margaret Lindsay) come up to the house. Cargan says she is his niece.
Magee has had about enough and decides there is too much going on at Baldpate for him to get any work done. On his way out he hears Mary on the phone with Bentley. Magee finds out that Mary is really Bentley’s secretary and she is there to interrupt Magee so that he can’t finish his manuscript. No manuscript-no winning $5000. Now that he knows what’s up Magee decides to stay and play along with the ruse.
On the phone with her boss, Mary finds out that he didn’t hire any caretaker or a woman to pose as his niece. Mary figures out that something nefarious is up and begins to panic. She tries to call the police the phone goes dead. Mary tries to tell Magee that something bad is going on but he thinks it’s all part of the plan to disrupt his work.
More strange people show up. A man who calls himself Professor Bolton (Arthur Shields). Then Steve Bland (Tom Keene) carrying stolen jewels that he locks into the safe. The jewels belong to Hayden (Jason Robards Sr.). The crooks are expecting a payoff of $200,000 in trade for the jewels. Bland tries to get himself a better share of spoils but ends up getting shot.
It’s not until Magee and Mary stumble upon the body of Bland that Magee realizes what Mary said was true and that they are up to their necks in criminals.
“Seven Keys to Baldpate” was released in 1947 and was directed by Lew Landers. It is based on the book by Earl Derr Biggers and the play by George M. Cohen. It is the sixth rendition of the play and the third one made in sound. The ending of the movie is different from the twist added in the 1935 version. There are some variations between all the movies. And none of them are faithful to the book. For one thing, the book takes place over a week and there is no bet involved. Other aspects were changed by Cohen for the play version. Each subsequent version has its own deviations from the play.
There are several Lew Landers movies that I liked. “The Raven” 1935, “The Boogie Man Will Get You” 1942 and “The Mask of Diijon” 1946 for starters. Landers’ take on “Seven Keys to Baldpate” was also decent. It was adapted quite well for the forties. It has more of a noir feel to it, whereas the previous movies were more like a play on film. By 1947 movies were getting fancy. More sets, bigger sets, music scores. The updates made for 1940’s audiences gave the movie its own flavor.
Erville Alderson who plays the Station Master in this film, plays the Police Chief in the 1935 version.
**As noted in my 1917 review: “Seven Keys to Baldpate” has had many adaptations. It first started as a novel by Charlie Chan creator Earl Derr Biggers. Since then there were the following adaptations: “Seven Keys to Baldpate” (play), a 1913 play by George M. Cohan based on the novel. “Seven Keys to Baldpate” 1916, an Australian silent film. “Seven Keys to Baldpate” 1917, an American silent mystery/thriller film starring Cohan. “Seven Keys to Baldpate” 1925, a lost silent film. “Seven Keys to Baldpate” 1929, the first sound adaptation of Cohen’s play starring Richard Dix. “Seven Keys to Baldpate” 1935, a film adaptation based on Cohen’s play. “Seven Keys to Baldpate” 1947, another adaptation based on the play. Altogether there were somewhere around six feature films made, three silent and three talkies. There were also some TV movies made and radio plays as well. I believe there was also a version done in 1983 called “House of Long Shadows”. I think Britain may have done a version as well.