The Plot Thickens

I very much wanted to like this movie. I've always liked James Gleason and Zazu Pitts. But the script was uninteresting, and the direction lackluster. It wasn't funny, and it didn't move, even though it's a short movie.

There's really no reason to watch this movie.

A man is shot in his car and a young couple is entangled with the murder. Next, the dead body is found in his library at home. Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason) investigates the apparent murder. He calls to cancel a golf outing with Hildegarde Withers (ZaSu Pitts). She's intrigue with the case and invites herself into the investigation.

The start is a bit messy but I like the young couple's dilemma. This is a new Hildegarde. She has a few fun scenes but it's generally a downgrade. I do like the handcuff scene. The mystery would work better if the young couple is forced to go on the run with Hildegarde by their side. They could solve the case together. Oscar would be in pursuit and join them later in the story. I just don't like the second half that much. The movie degenerates. The series is also degenerating into a secondary B-movie franchise. The original series would have one more movie before fading away.

Its a cliché, I know. But they don't make them like this any more.

And that's for a good, a very good reason: people wouldn't watch them, even those like myself who really value these.

What I'm talking about here are the comedy-mysteries that were pumped out in the 30s like TeeVee shows are now. Many of the same production values are used, in terms of economy and lack of depth. As with TeeVee stuff, the value is partially in the accretion of many similar movies -- in seeing one, you see some harmonization with hundreds of others.

We couldn't make these today because the genre was occluded by noir so far as the tone and by the hardboiled detective so far as story. These have not only changed movies, but the way we think.

So visiting these little films are somewhat like seeing that part of old London that's been turned into a theme park for tourists: something with a nostalgic. uncomplicated charm.

Of these, you cannot do better than James Gleason and the Hildegarde Winters things. These actually have a plot just complex enough to remind you that there is one. It doesn't "play fair" in that the complete solution uses knowledge the audience doesn't have. But in all these, the partial solution is telegraphed early.

I admit, I like the Hildegarde as portrayed by Edna Mae Oliver better in some regards. She's a more memorable character, and the notion of Gleason falling in love with her is as precious a joke as you can find.

But Zasu's got much better comic timing, so this has better jokes verbally.

Watch these, or something like them -- just like you might visit a "restored area" -- because such journeys are necessary to understanding film.

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

We did not know that Hildegarde Withers plays golf, but our first view of Zasu Pitts in the role shows her practicing her swing (indoors, no less). It seems she had a golf date with her good friend, Inspector Oscar Piper, which he has unfortunately broken: a case has come up, and Miss Withers—quickly recovering from her irritation at being stood up—hastens to the scene to assist in the investigation.

James Gleason is Inspector Piper once again, and gives his usual entertaining performance as the irascible detective with a soft spot for the school teacher who follows him around offering unsolicited crime-solving advice. Zasu Pitts as Withers delivers the usual dry Withers comments and is true to the character in her impatience with fools. (A policeman mistakenly arrests and handcuffs her, then tells her anything she says may be used against her, to which she replies, "Anything I say may be used against YOU—and that'll be plenty if you don't unshackle me at once!") Pitts looks good in the role, and she and Gleason make a snappy team. Considering that this was Gleason's fifth film in his role but Pitts was brand new to hers, the interaction between the two is impressively smooth.

The plot involves the murder of one John Carter, who is shot dead in a parked roadster a mere moment after attempting to kiss a girl who didn't want to be kissed and then laughing at her. Suspects abound, of course; complicating the plot is a possible case of mistaken identity, as various characters were out and about, tailing and being tailed, at the time of the murder. Why again was the body dragged from the roadster and (eventually) deposited in the murdered man's own library? --The plot does indeed thicken.

A solid supporting cast includes James Donlan as a goofy cop with an interest in astrology; Paul Fix as a nervous chauffeur; and Louise Latimer, who had just played a different role (but a similar character) in the Withers mystery immediately preceding this one.

No classic, but certainly an entertaining hour for those of us who enjoy this kind of thing: great character actors, some good dialog, and a plot that's a bit more complicated than really necessary.

Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason) has a baffling new case on his hands when John Carter (Richard Tucker) is found dead in his study by his butler, Kendall (Arthur Aylesworth). There are several suspicious people in Carter's circle. Alice Stevens seems to be the last person to have seen Carter alive; her boyfriend, Robert Wilkins, was seen arguing with Carter by a cop; and there's a mysterious stranger with a French accent whom Kendall overheard speaking with Carter before the crime took place. The further the investigation moves along, the more baffling the mystery, but Oscar has a secret weapon that may help him crack the case: schoolteacher/sleuth Hildegarde (ZaSu Pitts) Withers.

Pitts and Gleason play very well off of one another. ZaSu is really good as Hildergarde, and though she's not as distinctive as Edna May Oliver, she gives her own spin on the character, and comes across a bit dizzy yet intelligent and self-assured, and witty. She appears to be inattentive and "all over the place", but in reality she's analytical and doesn't miss a thing. As one reviewer rightly said, it's Columbo style of misdirection.

As for the mystery, it's quite good, has plenty of twist and turns, interesting suspects, a neat buildup to the murder, and a satisfying denouement, though it can be a little convoluted at times.