During WWII the Nazis began pilfering rare works of art and taking them to Germany. Many ended up in the private collections of German officers. To protect as many as possible, the French sent items from the Louvre to Great Britain for safe keeping. Leonard Di Vinchi’s painting “The Mona Lisa” was one of them. The art works were kept in an atmosphere regulated underground bunker.
Once Paris was liberated by the west, Professor Renault (Emil Rameau), from the Louvre sent two emissaries to Britain to retrieve the painting and bring the portrait back to France. The emissaries were to report to the head of Britain’s National Gallery, Sir James Collison (C. Aubrey Smith). The emissaries turn out to be thieves working for art connoisseur, Carl Hoffmeyer (Erich von Stroheim).
Hoffmeyer receives the stolen painting from his goons, Jules (Victor Varconi) and Henri (Georges Metaxa). While examining the painting, Hoffmeyer discovers that it is a forgery. He brings the forgery back to Sir James trying to determine if he had been involved in the original theft. Sir James is outraged but he can’t do anything about Hoffmeyer since what he stole had already been stolen. Hoffmeyer now knows that Sir James was not involved in the original theft, but he has an idea as to who was responsible.
Hoffmeyer begins to suspect that the thief is Sam Todworthy (Forrester Harvey), a known art thief. Todworthy openly admits to having the painting and wants 100,000 pounds for it. Hoffmeyer refuses so Todworthy decides to sell it back to the National Gallery. Sir James’ granddaughter, Tony (Stephanie Bachelor) is dating Scotland Yard inspector, Bob Cartwright (Richard Fraser). Scotland Yard quietly gets involved trying to find the painting.
In the meantime, other nefarious criminals want a piece of the action. One by one, anyone involved in the theft of the Mona Lisa get killed off and the painting gets passed from one criminal to another. Inspector Cartwright follows the trail of the portrait by following the trail of its victims.
“Scotland Yard Investigator” was released in 1945 and was directed by George Blair. It is a British crime film. It is supposedly a loose sequel to the 1944 thriller, “Secrets of Scotland Yard” 1944.
I’m not sure why Scotland Yard is so prominent in the title since they aren’t involved as much as you would think. Sir James doesn’t want to involve the Yard since it would bring publicity. It’s only when Sir James’ granddaughter gets involved that they are brought in and even then, it’s through her boyfriend and basically off the books.
Even though the title is misleading, the movie was actually not too bad. The plot was basic, but it had enough nuances to it that made it fun. The production values were a little skimpy but that is due to budget issues. The acting is also good. You really can’t go wrong with C. Aubrey Smith and Erich von Stroheim. Although I could do without Smith’s warbling and Stroheim’s toupee.
The Mona Lisa was painted on poplar wood sometime in the early 1500’s by Leonardo da Vinci. It is owned by the French government and is on display at the Louvre in Paris. The portrait is of Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a rich Florentine silk merchant.