Blind Spot

I mentioned in my review for Blind Alley that there were a finite number of basic plots and the good films find ways to make the most of it. Blind Spot doesn’t fare nearly as well, taking a tired trope and finding nothing new or original to do with it. Instead, it presents a mystery that we have all seen many times before and gives us more of the same. There are some twists along the way but, unless you were really not paying attention to the set-up, there are no twists here that should catch you by surprise. 

Our protagonist is Jeffrey Andrews (Chester Morris), an alcoholic novelist who is disgruntled by the restrictive contract his publisher, Henry Small (William Forrest), has him signed to. When he forces his way into Small’s office, he finds him entertaining another writer, Lloyd Harrison (Steven Geray). Small refuses to alter the terms of the contract and suggests that Andrews write something more marketable. More sales mean more royalties, but Andrews declines the offer, finding those kinds of books to be beneath him. Andrews eventually offers Small a plot outline for a whodunit, seeking a cash advance. When that fails, he improvises a plot for a locked-room murder mystery though he doesn’t reveal how it could be accomplished. Later, at a bar in the office building, he repeats his outline to the bartender, unaware that someone else is overhearing it all. When Small is killed, using this outline as a template, Andrews naturally becomes the prime suspect. 

This film commits the cardinal sin when it comes to telling a generic story: it gives us no interesting characters to latch on to. Andrews is a stereotype, a generic alcoholic writer disgruntled with his employer. We never explore his character outside of that. We already know he is innocent of the murder so we are just watching the cast go through the motions until the big revelation. Unfortunately, the solution is obvious from the start and so there is no mystery to puzzle out, either. All of this adds up to a film that is devoid of energy and intrigue. Instead, it is an exercise in patience as we sit through obvious plot points waiting for it to wrap up. All in all, this is a weak film that lacks anything to help it stand out among a crowded slate of very similar films. 1947 - 73 minutes