Best Crime Movies of 1946

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.

On a stormy night, the mute servant to an ailing matriarch is stalked by a serial killer.

An investigator from the War Crimes Commission travels to Connecticut to find an infamous Nazi, who may be hiding out in a small town in the guise of a distinguished professor engaged to the Supreme Court Justice’s daughter.

Soon after a veteran's return from war his cheating wife is found dead. He evades police in an attempt to find the real murderer.

In the midst of Nazi air raids, a postman dies on the operating table at a rural hospital. But was the death accidental?

George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, he tries to track down his old identity, stumbling into a 3-year old murder case and a hunt for a missing $2 million.

Ex-con turned private investigator Bradford Galt suspects someone is following him and maybe even trying to kill him. With the assistance of his spunky secretary, Kathleen Stewart, he dives deep into a mystery in search of answers.

A dark personal secret drives a young woman to use every man she encounters.

Holmes and Watson board a passenger train bound from London to Edinburgh, to guard the Star of Rhodesia, an enormous diamond worth a fortune belonging to an elderly woman of wealth; but within the first hour of the trip, the woman's son is murdered and the diamond stolen and any of the passengers in their car could be the killer thief.

A convicted thief in Dartmoor prison hides the location of the stolen Bank of England printing plates inside three music boxes. When the innocent purchasers of the boxes start to be murdered, Holmes and Watson investigate.

A con artist falls for the rich widow he's trying to fleece.

A falsely convicted man's wife, Catherine, and an alcoholic composer and pianist, Martin team up in an attempt to clear her husband of the murder of a blonde singer, who is Martin's wife.

A smooth-talking French thief wangles his way into an important position as prefect of police.

A fatally shot female gangleader recounts her sordid life of crime to a police officer just before she dies.

Chuck Scott gets a job as chauffeur to tough guy Eddie Roman; but Chuck's involvement with Eddie's fearful wife becomes a nightmare.

After three men are convicted of bank robberies, Charlie becomes suspicious. After some investigation Charlie finds the men are innocent and that the fingerprint evidence used to convict them had been forged. Charlie then proceeds to find the true bank robbers.

When a troupe of showgirls with their impresario and press agent vacation at a Malibu Beach resort, two of them are garroted. Charlie takes on the case assisted by Number Two Son Jimmy and faithful chauffeur Birmingham Brown.

Private eye Phillip Marlowe wants to get out of the detective racket and into crime writing. But when he's called to the office of editor Adrienne Fromsett, it's not to talk about his story ideas — she wants him to locate the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. The assignment quickly becomes complicated when bodies start turning up

A treasury agent on the trail of counterfeit money confides to fellow ocean liner passenger, Charlie Chan, that there have been two attempts on his life.

Inspector Cassin, a renowned Paris detective, departs to the country for a much-needed break. There he falls in love with the innkeeper’s daughter, Nanette, who is already betrothed to a local farmer. On the evening of their engagement party, Nanette and the farmer both disappear. Cassin takes up the case immediately to discover what happened to them and who is responsible.

In 1940s Los Angeles, when womanizing composer Keith Vincent is found dead, the inquest concludes it was a suicide but police detective Joe Warne isn't so sure.

Hugo and Rocky (caricatures of Edward G. Robinson and Peter Lorre) make it home to their hideout only to find Bugs already settled down there for the night.

A police detective uses his girlfriend to track down a homicidal maniac.

A young heiress finds evidence suggesting that at night she acts under the influence of a family curse and has begun committing ghastly murders in a nearby park.

The son of a notorious hangman is gradually becoming insane and he finds himself unable to resist the urge to strangle women to death.

In San Francisco's Chinatown, Charlie helps two different people search for their missing relatives and uncovers a murder for insurance scheme.

Con woman Ricki Woodner and detective Bob Simms follow a prison-bound swindler Ace Connors on his five-day gourmet binge.

Neale and Pedro fly cargo between Chungking and Calcutta. When their buddy Bill is murdered they investigate. Neale meets Bill's fiancée Virginia and becomes suspicious of a deeper plot while also falling for her charms.

When beautiful Mary returns to her "whistle stop" hometown, long-standing feelings of animosity between two of her old boyfriends leads to robbery and murder.

A pretty blonde with a Doberman pinscher walks into a bar on April Fool's Day and asks for a bag of bones. Thus begins a merry chase in which a newspaper reporter, a drunken policeman and a hand-painted necktie help locate the missing witness in a criminal investigation.

A deranged artist who may have murdered his wife is investigated by the Whistler.

Marine veteran Johnny Christopher meets and is immediately drawn to beautiful Evelyn Smith one day on the beach. Evelyn's new job as secretary to a U.S. senator in California soon brings unexpected intrigue and trouble for her and Johnny. The machinations of a sinister group of Nazi spies lead to mysteries and mistaken identities, and the two soon find themselves framed for murder!

Small-time jewel thief Leo Martin is deserted by his partners-in-crime, club owner Gus Loman and driver Hatchett, when the robbery they are committing goes wrong. After serving his prison sentence, Leo emerges with an intricate plan for revenge. Leo implicates Loman, as well as his amoral boss, Gregory Lang, for murder -- but Inspector Rogers suspects Leo.

An ex-con sets up a program to straighten out hard-core prisoners. Things don't go as planned.

A San Francisco airplane bound for South America crashes, and among the scorched debris is found a shrunken native human head, neatly packaged. The perplexed police contact a local anthropology museum about this unclaimed piece of grisly baggage, where they intersect with Jack and Doc, two private eyes, called there to meet a mysterious woman who had a case for them and wanted to meet in private.

In the 7th film of the "Crime Doctor" series based on the radio program, Dr. Robert Ordway is summoned to take attend a diabetic, and gives an injection of insulin taken from a bottle in the patient's pocket. The man dies and Ordway discovers that what he thought was insulin was really poison. Oops! Two other people are murdered before Ordway discovers who replaced the insulin with poison and what the motive was

A society sleuth rescues a kidnapped woman, then is framed for murder.

A PI investigates a priest's murder.

Career-slipping movie star Carole Raymond buys in as a real estate partner of Jeff Caldwell. Actually, through his secretary, Nola Reed, Caldwell runs a matrimonial bureau and, with the aid of his associate, Lee Kirby, they defraud and blackmail a large group of lonely people. Carole, unknowingly, is used as bait for one of their victims, Walter Desmond, who "commits suicide." Reporter William Tyler thinks otherwise.

A society sleuth sets out on the trail of a society matron's lost jewels.

An unscrupulous private investigator with a penchant for blackmail is found dead in a car and the leading suspect is Janet Bradley, the daughter of a mayoral candidate. With the election just weeks away, shady and ruthless individuals muscle the medical officer into switching the corpse with another body. Lieutenant Sam Carson, one of the few good apples in the bunch must find a way to get to the bottom of it all.

A fugitive receives help from a victim's sister as he tries to clear his name of robbery and murder charges.

A daily news editor recalls a married detective and the deadly woman behind his downfall.

Blackie performs in a magic show at a women's prison, which gives an inmate an opportunity to escape.

A pair of married ex-convicts trying to go straight get jobs at a department store. A gangster who knows about their past threatens to expose it unless they agree to help him rob the department store.

A private detective is hired to find a young heiress but finds himself accused of murder.

Boston Blackie, in the 11th film of the Columbia series, indulges in some wit-trading with a squirmy spiritualist who deals in blackmail, murder and the occult. "Blackie" out to help his pal, "Runt," recover some jewels, finds himself involved in the homicides, and also finds himself as the prime suspect, and now has to find the real culprit in order to clear himself. So "Blackie,", a man of many talents and already a proved magician from cases past, shows he knows a little bit about dancing skeletons, walking phantoms and spiritualism himself, and holds a séance to unmask the murderer.

Private detective Johnny Fletcher and his sidekick Sam Cragg skip out on their rented room, but when they sneak back to retrieve their luggage, they discover a dead body on the bed, holding a gold coin in its hand. Fletcher is told by a coin collector that the piece is an old and valuable Spanish coin, but Fletcher soon begins to suspect that the man is himself involved in the murder. Fletcher's investigation leads to he and Sam getting caught up in a murder and gold smuggling scheme.