Find the Blackmailer

After years of faithful supporting-player service to Warner Bros., Jerome Cowan was rewarded with two starring vehicles, the first of which was Find the Blackmailer. Cowan is cast as private eyes D. L. Trees, who is hired by mayoral candidate John M. Rhodes (Gene Lockhart) to prevent any sort of adverse publicity. It seems that, somewhere in town, there's this talking blackbird (!) who insists upon saying that Rhodes will commit a murder. When the killing occurs, Rhodes is implicated, and Trees is off on a hectic pursuit of the incriminating crow-and the actual murderer. Faye Emerson is decorative as the leading lady, while the supporting cast is festooned with such "usual suspects" as John Harmon, Bradley Page and Lou Lubin.