Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

bkoganbing Private Detective 62 casts William Powell as a detective once again. But if you think you're going to see something on the order of Nick Charles or Philo Vance think again. Powell is playing one seedy gumshoe who through the circumstances of the Great Depression and the fact he's been deported back to America from France under indiscreet circumstances, he finds he's desperate for employment.He works a few cons in this film, but the biggest is when Powell goes into partnership with peephole peeper Arthur Hohl and then the two are financed in their detective agency by gangster/gambler Gordon Westcott.Westcott has a special job for them, to discredit and/or get money back that society woman Margaret Lindsay. But one sight of Lindsay and Powell has an attack of ethics. Private Detective 62 has its moments, but Powell's ethics seem to be rather elastic here. He's not like his more famous detective roles and I think fans will be disappointed.

calvinnme William Powell's stay at Warner Brothers was a short one - only a couple of years - but he hit the bullseye in every picture he did there. This film is one of them. Here William Powell plays Donald Free, a secret agent of sorts who gets caught in France with stolen documents. The agency he works for has already told him that if he is caught all knowledge of his action will be disavowed, so he is unsurprised when that is exactly what happens. For some strange reason, the French take Donald all the way to New York harbor before deciding to transfer him to another ship and send him right back to France. The only reason for all of this inefficiency can be as a plot device for Donald to make an easy escape by jumping overboard and swimming to shore, which he does.Donald is now home and at liberty, but that doesn't get you far in 1933 Depression era America. Without references he is unable to get a job as a detective for any police department or obtain a private detective license. But after pounding the pavement with no luck for months, Donald manages to partner up with a private detective firm on its last legs. The partner has the license but not much talent at detecting or discretion, and Donald has the talent and no license. Ruth Donnelly plays the firm's secretary with mouth and moxy to spare. They're doing OK and then a well-known gangster bankrolls the firm and floods the office with business. When that gangster wants a favor in return - the discrediting of a beautiful customer that his gambling joint owes tens of thousands of dollars to because he doesn't have the money to pay her when she finally decides to cash in her chips - things begin to get really interesting. You'll probably figure out what's going on even before Powell's character solves all of the mysteries for you, but here as in most of the early 30's Warner Brothers films, most of the fun is the journey not the destination. Highly recommended.

MartinHafer The film begins with William Powell being convicted in a French court of espionage and he is deported back to America. However, the French reconsider and plan on returning him to France when Powell jumps overboard and swims for shore in New York. Once there, he has a devil of a time finding work since it is during the Depression and since his reputation was ruined over the conviction. Eventually, he does land on his feet when he partners up with a two-bit private detective with very questionable morals. Through Powell's business acumen and skills as a detective, the agency is able to grow and prosper. Unfortunately, his partner is even more shady and corrupt than he imagined--leading to a dandy climax.Over the years I have become a real fan of the films of William Powell--mostly because he was able to make his performances look so natural and relaxed. In this film, you have a somewhat ordinary plot that comes to life thanks to Powell. This mystery-action film isn't much like his later THIN MAN films, though it is still pretty exciting and well worth a look.

Richard Green Once again, the Turner Classic Movies network scores a touchdown for hard-core fans of William Powell !! This film is a depression-era gem and because it features Powell as a good guy who's not above conniving, it works beautifully.The subtext of the movie -- the ritzy society dame who has an amazing knack for winning at roulette -- fully supports the context, which is what does a smart gentleman do when he's down on his luck ? In this film, Powell acts the part with panache and enthusiasm. He's not too good to take on the kind of almost-X-rated detective work that made "private eyes" synonymous with cads and bounders ....But his character draws the line at fleecing the society diva played by Margaret Lindsay. In some ways this entertaining "detective fiction" steps way outside the usual social norms, and for that alone it gets a seven out of ten. Powell is amazingly charming in this film, and given the context of his employment, it is a bit of a fantasy scenario.Like some other films of this specific time period, the fictional treatment of "New York swells" who gamble and win or lose what were then truly fabulous sums of money, was surely part of the appeal to the aforementioned "fantasy." People who were lucky to gross $ 2000 in a year's time, in that time, would have been, perhaps, a bit scandalized by seeing a privileged social butterfly knocking down the "house" for $ 50,000 at the roulette table !! But it made the otherwise fantastic notions of the film ever-so-much more believable.Powell really sparkles in this movie. He's so very suave and urbane and yet just a little bit of bitterness comes through in the way he uses the dialog his character is given. Almost every time I have seen the whole of a Powell performance from this era, I come away somewhat astounded at the fluid nature of his talent."My Man Godfrey" remains my favorite film, of course, in the Powell repertoire but this detective story is both quirky and fantastic and ultimately believable just because Powell carries it all the way through. And yea, the final sequence where he's sprinting up stairs to embrace the lovely socialite -- who proposed marriage to him !! -- is very clever and pleasing. This is a great Powell vehicle and to see it without commercials on TCM was a real pleasure.