The 1942 film "Time To Kill" is based on Raymond Chandler's 1942 novel The High Window about a Los Angeles private detective investigating the theft of a Brasher Doubloon, a very famous and rare American gold coin. Raymond Chandler's novel was also filmed as "The Brasher Doubloon" in 1947.
Please visit Coins in Movies - The Brasher Doubloon for more information.
In this film the detective's name was changed to Michael Shayne, the character created by writer Brett Halliday. The film was the last of a series of films starring Lloyd Nolan as Michael Shayne. The film follows the book fairly closely. Brasher Doubloons are extremely rare gold coins privately minted around 1787 by New York goldsmith Ephraim Brasher. According to the novel, authentic Brasher Doubloons were worth around $10,000 to collectors in 1942. They are worth more now, one sold for $4,500,000 in January 2014. Most of the coins have Brasher's initials "EB" on the right wing of the eagle which is the left side of the coin. The film shows a replica of a Brasher Doubloon, a prop coin either specially made for the film or a commercial replica. The film also shows a coin catalog page with photographs of the coin.

Lloyd Nolan then appears.

Private detective Michael Shayne receives a telephone call from a Mrs. Murdock. She asks him for references and he gives her a few fictitious names. She asks him to visit her at her large house. She lives with her grown son Leslie and a secretary named Myrle Davis. Leslie's wife Linda Conquest, a nightclub singer, was living there but has moved out.

Michael Shayne calls on Mrs. Murdock and asks her how she got his name. She replies that it was in the telephone book. Mrs. Murdock, an elderly nasty woman, asks Shayne to recover a rare coin, a Brasher Doubloon, which was stolen from her. Mrs. Murdock brings out a coin book entitled "Early United States Coinage".

Mrs. Murdock opens the book to a specific page.

There are photographs of both sides of the coin and the name "Brasher's doubloon." and the date "1787". The real coins have a sunrise on one side and a spread eagle on the other. The left photograph is fuzzy but is supposed to be the side with the eagle.

Mrs. Murdock tells him it is a gold coin about the size of a United States $20 gold coin, minted in 1787, usually worth several thousand dollars. Most of the coins have Brasher's initials "EB" on the right wing of the eagle, but that her coin is worth more because the initials are on the left wing. Note that the eagle's right wing is on the left side of the coin. None of the real Brasher Doubloons have the initials on the left wing. She tells Shayne that she discovered the coin missing after a rare coin dealer named Elisha Washburn telephoned her to ask if the coin was for sale as somebody had shown it to him. Mrs. Murdock tells Shayne that her son's wife Linda Conquest stole the coin when she moved out of the house. Mrs. Murdock says "I have an idiot for a son." Shayne talks to Mrs. Murdock's assistant Myrle Davis and asks her about locating Linda Conquest. Myrle replies that Linda had a girlfriend from school named Lois Morny who is married to nightclub owner Alex Morny. Shayne drives out to the Morny house and encounters Lois sitting near a swimming pool and a large man named Lou Venter.

Venter tries to punch Shayne but falls into the pool. Lois tells Shayne that Linda is a singer at Alex's nightclub. Leslie Murdock visits Shayne at his office and asks Shayne why his mother hired him. Shayne throws Leslie out of his office. Shayne discovers a man following him who turns out to be George Anson Philips, an amateur detective. Philips gives Shayne a business card and asks him to meet him at his apartment in an hour. Shayne then drives to the coin dealer Elisha Washburn's store.

Shayne enters the office and visits Elisha.

Coin dealers are often shown in films with magnifying glasses

Shayne asks him about the coin he saw and the dealer states that he might be able to get it. Shayne offers him $1000 for the coin but the dealer then tells him he isn't interested. Shayne drives to Philips' apartment and finds him murdered. He calls the police and Lt. Breeze (who knows Shayne) arrives with policemen. The police take two drunk tenants to the station for questioning but leave Shayne alone. Shayne telephones an answering service and an employee tells him that a Linda Conquest left a message for him to meet her at the nightclub where she works. That evening Shayne visits the "Idle Valley Club" where Linda is the featured singer.

Linda and Shayne become friends and she gives him a receipt which she found on the floor.

The receipt is from a dental supply company to a "L. G. Venter" and is for chemicals Kerr's Crystobolite and White's Albastone. Mrs. Murdock is eating a thick steak and then hands Myrle some currency notes which she is to deliver to someone. At his office, Shayne telephones Mrs. Murdock and tells her that Linda will divorce her son and will not ask for any money. Mrs. Murdock also tells Shayne that she has found her coin and tells Shayne to send her a bill for his services. A mailman enters Shayne's office and delivers a small Registered Mail box.

The box label states that it is from Philips (now deceased) to Shayne.

He finds a familiar item.

The box contains a Brasher Doubloon in a holder labeled "BRASHER DOUBLOON". Shane returns to coin dealer Elisha's office and finds the police there.

The dealer has been killed and Lt. Breeze asks why Shayne is there. Shayne explains his presence, "I'm a numismatist, a coin collector to you." Shayne visits Mrs. Murdock again.

A photograph of the returned coin follows:

A close-up of the returned coin. Shayne tells Mrs. Murdock that the coin dealer has been murdered. Leslie Murdock shows up and confesses to stealing the original coin. Shayne visits the dental supply company and talks to a dentist about the receipt.

The dentist explains that the chemicals are used to make molds for gold dental inlays. Shayne sees that the process can also be used to copy gold coins. The dentist tells him that he filled Mr. Venter's order two weeks ago. Shayne returns to his office and Linda visits him. Lt. Breeze appears and Shayne tells him that Linda is "Miss Hope" and is his fiancee. The police lieutenant leaves and Myrle appears. Myrle claims to have delivered Mrs. Murdock's money to Venter and then shot him after he propositioned her. Myrle tells Shayne that she has been delivering money to Venter for eight years. Shayne goes to Venter's office and finds the body, a gun, and a photograph of a building. Alex Morny and Lois appear and the two men get into a fight. The Mornys leave and go to their house. Lt. Breeze telephones his boss and tells him that he has "solved the case". He explains that Venter killed Philips and Washburn and then shot himself. Leslie arrives and shoots at Shayne but misses. Shayne throws a telephone at him. Shayne explains to Lt. Breeze that Venter and Leslie had a scheme for minting counterfeit Brasher Doubloons and selling them to coin dealers and collectors. Shayne and Lt. Breeze drive to the Morny house and find Myrle. Myrle confesses to killing Mr. Murdock (Mrs. Murdock's husband) after he got drunk and began assaulting her. Shayne shows Myrle Venter's photograph of the building and an enlargment showing Mrs. Murdock pushing her husband out of a window. Venter had been blackmailing Mrs. Murdock ever since.

Shayne explains that Mrs. Murdock cut off her son Leslie's money after he married Linda. Leslie stole the real Brasher Doubloon and with Venter came up with the counterfeit coin scheme. Leslie then argued with Venter and then shot him. A policeman calls Lt. Breeze from the Murdock house and tells him that Mrs. Murdock was found dead, having choked on a piece of steak. At the train station Linda gets on a train to Reno to divorce Leslie. She tells Lt. Breeze that Shayne will then marry her.

Lloyd Nolan as Michael Shayne
Ethel Griffies as Mrs. Murdock
James Seay as Leslie Murdock
Heather Angel as Myrle Davis
Doris Merrick as Linda Conquest
Richard Lane as Lt. Breeze
Ralph Byrd as Lou Venter
Ted Hecht as George Anson Phillips
Morris Ankrum as Alexander Morny
Sheila Bromley as Lois Morny
Lester Sharpe as Elisha Washburn (coin dealer)
Director: Herbert I. Leeds
Writers: Clarence Upson Young, Raymond Chandler (novel)