Murder on a Honeymoon

This, and Penguin Pool Murder, are just plain fun and pleasant. Both are well written, surprisingly well photographed and edited. As I get older, I like less drama and more mystery, and more characters. Not a bad format for a TV mystery, like a light-hearted Columbo.

I did not have an appreciation of James Gleason until viewing these two. He is often a minor character actor as is Edna May Oliver (sometimes Mae). Both fare very well as lead actors. It was fun to see a younger Leo G Carroll.

These old movies give one a glimpse of early 1930's America, although perhaps an inaccurate one (it was Depression time). Murder on a Honeymoon shows Catalina Island offshore of Los Angeles in 1935 and of travel/commute by seaplane. It hasn't changed much except that the seaplanes are gone.

Murder on a Honeymoon opens aboard a seaplane flying several passengers out to a vacation destination: it's a neat opening scene that sets the plot in motion with a murder and introduces us to all of the suspects as well. Among those passengers is Hildegarde Withers, played one more time by the great Edna May Oliver, who is a bit sick during the flight but recovers nicely when the plane lands and it is discovered that a fellow passenger is dead.

James Gleason returns as Inspector Oscar Piper; it seems the murdered man was involved in a case his department is on, so he hops a flight himself and quickly joins his old collaborator Miss Withers. ("Hildegarde, you get screwier every day" is practically the first thing he says to her when they meet, thus quickly re-establishing their outwardly adversarial, genuinely affectionate personal relationship.)

Good photography—both of island scenes and in some atmospheric shadowy night shots—adds sparkle to a script that neatly balances comic banter with murder. A solid supporting cast features Leo G. Carroll as a big shot movie director (who carries a flask with two compartments in it—one containing the good booze he drinks, one stocked with the cheap stuff he shares with others) and Lola Lane as an aspiring actress hoping to catch his eye.

Overall, the suspense is a bit more taut, the solution more surprising than in the two previous Withers-Piper pictures; it's a top-notch B mystery.

Oliver, especially, is at her very best, especially when dealing with those who underestimate her—for example, the local police chief and doctor, who are beginning the murder investigation while still in their bathing suits: "Don't try to be impressive in that rig, my man," Miss Withers snaps when one attempts brusqueness. "You can't frighten me until you've put on your trousers."

Edna May Oliver is flying out to Catalina when one of her fellow passengers falls ill and dies. The police don't think it's anything but natural. Miss Oliver disagrees. She reaches out to James Gleason in New York City, who soon discovers the dead man is a wanted criminal. He joins Miss Oliver on Catalina to figure out which of the passengers is a murderer.

It's the third and final pairing of the two leads in RKO's series of movies about Stuart Palmer's amateur detective Hildegard Withers and the bumbling Inspector Piper. The exchanges are sharp, Miss Oliver has it all in over Gleason, and this clearly made money; RKO continued the series for two more episodes. So why did Miss Oliver not appear in them? After a lifetime as a stage actress, playing the same role wasn't an issue. I believe that she simply became too expensive for RKO. The year this movie came out, Miss Oliver signed a contract with MGM. RKO simply could not afford to pay MGM's rates to borrow the actress.

So we have to enjoy this and the earlier two entries in the series. RKO certainly did her proud, hiring Robert Benchley to co-write the screenplay, and surrounding her with a capable cast that included Lola Lane, George Meeker, Dorothy Libaire, and Leo G. Carroll.

This was — I believe — the third of the series and the last with this woman. I like these because James Gleason does a ratatat detective, cigar-chomping, who always gets things wrong. The original idea was that a schoolmarm bests him, but her position as a teacher seems to have been forgotten after the first two.

In the first one, they actually fall in love. In the second, she establishes a new pattern as the pushy friend who seems to muddle through before the officials do. It was Gleason that makes these work. He's something of a genius.

In this one, two things are changed. The mystery goes from a pre-noir template to an Agatha Christie one: murder on a small airplane. That means you have only so many suspects and we have seen them all moving about and bumping each other, each doing something suspicious. So its mildly more engaging as a mystery than any of the others.

But something else changes here. There's much, much more physical humor. She tumbles about ungracefully as if that were a hoot. Gleason's inspector gets whacked by every door he gets close to.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Another fun Hildegarde Withers mystery starring the great Edna May Oliver. This is the third and final Withers film starring Oliver. She would be replaced by two other actresses in the other films. Those don't match up to the Oliver entries in the series but are watchable. The plot here is about Hildy flying on a plane when one of the passengers is mysteriously killed. When the plane lands Hildy wastes no time starting her investigation. She contacts Inspector Piper (James Gleason), who quickly comes to help. Oliver and Gleason are terrific, as always. Their banter and chemistry is the primary reason to watch these movies. Nice cast includes Leo G. Carroll and the lovely Lola Lane. Willie Best also appears in one of his stereotypical parts that will make some modern viewers uncomfortable.