First the Lane sisters were four daughters, then they became four wives, and now that bore-some foursome has turned out to be "Four Mothers." Surprisingly enough, despite recent Hays' office laxity, all the mothers are married. So the plot centers about the very unexciting career of their father (Claude Rains), an orchestra conductor who gets neither sympathy nor symphonies until after the old homestead has been sold to the wreckers. Then he hits a streak of luck, conducts a poorly recorded concert, regains the old homestead, and leaves everybody happy--at least everybody on the screen.

"Michael Shayne, Private Detective" is a grade B show which deserves an A minus. The plot, as is customary in Hollywood murder mysteries, tells how a private detective outsmarts the public defectives. But Lloyd Nolan raises the show way above average by an excellent performance as the sport-coated Sherlock Holmes.