Sophie Lang comes back from the dead to appear
in the second of three films starring Gertrude Mitchell. The character is
based on two short stories from author Frederick Irving Anderson who was
a reporter and writer of many crime stories. Sophie Lang is or was a gentlewoman
thief with a preference for jewelry. But like all those gentle thieves of
the movies of yesteryear they have reformed and gone straight because the
Film Code would have it no other way. You could not get away with a crime
back then. At the end of the first film it appears she has died and this
picks up five years later at her graveyard. But like Confucius once said
"Never kill off a possible sequel or you may regret it".
Sophie is at her graveyard leaving flowers which seems a bit odd since she
is not buried there. A young energetic journalist comes to the site as well
to leave flowers and tells the woman that he thinks Sophie was the greatest
thief ever. Turns out that they are both on the same ship going back to America.
She is the companion to an elderly lady. A very wealthy elderly lady. With
the Krueger Diamond that she just purchased. Worth over $100,000. But Sophie
has reformed and wants nothing to do with it. She only has eyes for her new
guy played by Ray Milland at his most ingratiating. On the ship too is her
former partner - Max Bernard - and he wants in on the diamond. 60 minutes
of fast moving love and robbery. The elderly lady played by Elizabeth Patterson
almost steals the show with her creaky voice of kindness. Patterson shows
up often in B films as an Aunt or nosy neighbor. She was Bulldog Drummond's
Aunt in three films. Always a pleasure to come across her.
