The Crimson Canary

Enjoyable B mystery about a jazz band mixed up in murder. I love John Litel, the father of Nancy Drew in the '30s series. Here, as a silver-haired moustached jazz-loving detective, he's 'Daddy'. He seems distantly related to Nick Charles, at least in the finale which…

Evelyn Rose

If I had caught this on TCM as a kid, I would’ve been obsessed. A solid B-movie whodunnit with a plot that hangs together, a cast that delivers appealing performances, and a fantastic jazz score (from both on-screen performances and non-diegetic pieces). It was, of course,…

dynamitegoat

Gotta love a B-noir that fully halts its narrative in order to give full respect to Coleman Hawkins and Josh White (who epically performs two songs with a lit cigarette behind his ear). A funhouse mirror version of Black Angel but with better music.

Ned Hinkle

Surprisingly strong B movie with amazing jazz breaks, clever characters, and witty dialogue. I don’t know if the reveal makes sense with how the sequence of events played out but I was satisfied nonetheless. Plus, Claudia Drake is a savage who eats up the short amount of…

Toyiah

the high point of the picture is far and away the musical performances of coleman hawkins and josh white, the rest of the film could be considered a sort of celluloid bell jar enclosing and preserving this beautiful artifact...and yet...i really enjoyed the whole thing. i…

dario argender

@TCMFest- A decent "B" Noir with a terrific Jazz score and appearances by Josh White- "One Meat Ball" and best of all Coleman Hawkins

Allan Arkush

Really fun 66 minute Universal B-noir quickie about the members of a (white) jazz combo on the lam in San Francisco after being suspected of murder. What distinguishes it are a couple of live musical numbers from legends Coleman Hawkins and Josh White. Second half of a…

Jim

The package is cool, filled with soundtrack and free flow. Reminded me more of low budget detective films of the 70s than what they usually served in the 40s. However, the actual plot sucked pretty bad. But it was fun seeing Noah Beery Jr. getting a leading role as a tough…

PUNQ

Noir City second feature with The Yellow Canary. Intro by Eddie Muller and Nick Rossi. A bit of a slight movie with really great musical performances (not by the main cast). Josh White is especially fantastic! The movie is a true "b" movie running just over an hour and…

Michael J. Epstein