Murder on the Blackboard

MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD is good old-fashioned fun with Edna May Oliver, my favorite character actress of the '30s, sleuthing in Nancy Drew manner with James Gleason at her side as a crusty detective.

This time the amateur sleuth helps solve a case involving a murdered music teacher and gets herself into deep trouble with the killer who means business when he tries to throw an axe at her in a dark basement cellar. Edna May's brisk, no nonsense manner fits the character of Hildegarde Withers to perfection and she's never at a loss for a quick retort when Gleason becomes a bit overbearing. Their game of one-up-man-ship is what keeps the story moving briskly to a satisfying conclusion.

The fact that it's terribly dated in dialogue and situations is what gives this little mystery a quaint sort of charm. One of the better in a series of Hildegarde Withers murder mysteries.

This was the second of 3 films Edna May Oliver made at RKO starring as that indomitable school teacher/sleuth, Miss Hildegarde Withers. As always, Miss Oliver steals the show, sticks it in her handbag and walks off with it.

This time she attempts to track down a murderer right in her own New York City school. With her gimlet eye & no-nonsense manner, the killer never really stands a chance.

Miss Oliver, as always, is a joy to watch. James Gleason returns as the harried police detective Oscar Piper, now Hildegarde's boyfriend. Also on hand are Edgar Kennedy, Bruce Cabot & Tully Marshall. But, as in the other Withers films, Edna May is the real reason to watch.

This is a quintessential 'Late Show' movie, a low-key murder mystery with charming character actors in service to a mild plot. Edna May Oliver is the keystone of the picture, an elementary school teacher with a taste for adventure in murder mysteries. "Murder On The Blackboard" is a sequel to another Edna May Oliver-James Gleason picture so the characters are already well established. The pacing is brisk and the plot is well assembled, making for an enjoyable film.

One problem for viewers might be the C&C Movietime version of this film. That version has the first half-hour cut out, which saves time but butchers the narrative. Those who pick up the thread with Oliver's character searching for the body are missing about thirty minutes of important exposition.

Regardless of the editing, this is an amusing comic murder mystery deserving of your attention.

After I watched "Penguin Pool Murder" (1932) I wrote a review titled, "More of Miss Withers Please," so I can't tell you how pleased I was to see Edna May Oliver reprise her role as Hildegarde Withers, the teacher and crime solver.

In "Murder on the Blackboard," Miss Withers found a teacher named Louise Halloran (Barbara Fritchie) dead in her classroom. Miss Withers, being the perspicacious person she was, kicked into detective mode. Because she wasn't a detective by profession she called Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason), the inspector she solved the Penguin Pool Murder with.

The two of them would go on to chase down clues and suspects. Miss Withers was her normal nosy, yet helpful self. She is easy to like because she's comedically prim and proper, and always carries her umbrella. Her look and style was so different from many of the carbon copies they used for female leads back then. She was older, a little plain, and comical without being exaggerated or silly. I sort of put her in the category of a Marie Dressler or Alison Skipworth, except younger and thinner, but they were all atypical.

As Sade sang, "It's never as good as the first time." That's to say that "Murder on the Blackboard" wasn't as good as "Penguin Pool Murder," but don't let it stop you from enjoying Miss Withers again.

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There were many, many B-detective series films through the 1930s and 40s--ranging from Sherlock Holmes to Ellery Queen to Charlie Chan to The Falcon--and many, many more. Despite the wide variety, these film are quite similar and the plots are rather interchangeable. However, I always look forward to a Hildegarde Withers film starring Edna May Oliver, as her films, regardless of the plot, have a lot more going for them than the rest of the pack. That's because Ms. Oliver was simply a delight to watch--as her detective was given the snappiest and most sarcastic dialog and her delivery was always wonderful. While she appeared at first much like a Jessica Fletcher-style character, you soon discovered she wasn't so cuddly or sweet and was more of a "dame" in the best sense of the word.

This particular film is about a dead body that is discovered but then disappears at a school. Later, the body is found in the most grisly fashion and it's up to Miss Withers and her sidekick, the Inspector (James Gleason) to solve the crime. The film isn't quite as good as their previous film, THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER and interestingly enough they actually refer back to that case--something you don't often see in these films. Watch it--it's exciting, funny and different.

Sadly, despite the higher than usual quality of these films, Ms. Oliver only made three and the studio tried replacing her with Helen Broderick and Zasu Pitts--pale imitations of the original.