Smart Girls Don't Talk

Richard Bare’s relatively unknown Smart Girls Don’t Talk is an entertaining nightclub noir that centers Virginia Mayo in a story packed with Warner Brothers sets and gangster tropes. When gambling den Club Bermuda is held up by a competing gang, owner Marty Fain (Bruce Bennett) offers to compensate his patrons for any losses to avoid police involvement. Socialite Linda Vickers (Mayo) claims to have had a diamond necklace stolen, but Fain requires a look at her insurance policy for the jewels, so she invites him to her apartment where they begin an affair. When Linda’s car is used in a murder plot that same night, her brother “Doc” (Robert Hutton) tries to dissuade her from associating with Fain and his ilk; as more murders pile up, however, Linda finds herself in too deep and compelled to team up with law enforcement. Sackheim’s screenplay features plenty of sassy lines for the always reliable Mayo, and her chemistry with Bennett is far stronger than his often one-note persona would seem to deserve. Primarily set in and around the nightclub, Bare takes several dark detours for apartment break-ins, alley murders, etc.