Twenty Plus Two premiered in the U.S. today in 1961. We got interested in this one because it starred David Janssen, who was the central character in the television show The Fugitive, but who we remember from the obscure flick Birds of Prey that used to pop up on cable when we were in high school. We loved that movie, but it was the only thing we’d seen Janssen in. Twenty Plus Two is billed as film noir on some websites, so that interested us too. First things first—it isn’t a film noir. Not even close. It’s a black and white crime drama with a few night sequences, but no noir stylings or iconography, except for a single flashback. People get this twisted all the time, but we’ll say it again: just because it’s a black and white crime movie doesn’t mean it’s a film noir.
Janssen stars as an investigator who’s drawn into a murder case involving a movie star’s secretary. She possessed material on a missing heiress, and Janssen finds himself investigating both the missing person and the murder. Mixed in are complications from his past in the form of his ex-fiancée. Janssen never quite figures it all out, but that’s okay—the villain explains it in detail for him at the end. The whole production comes across like a television movie, complete with the type of punctuative trumpet blasts you’d hear on an old cop show. We can’t recommend it, but if you’re a fan of Janssen you won’t be disappointed. He’s about as reliable a star as you’ll find, and he makes Twenty Plus Two watchable all by his lonesome.
