Murder on a Honeymoon

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.

This time a murder takes place on a seaplane enroute to Catalina Island and all of the passengers become suspects. Needless to say, a few red herrings are thrown into the plot but it's all eventually solved after Hildegarde Withers (Edna May Oliver) calls in detective Piper (James Gleason) to assist her in solving the case.

Another minor entry in the Hildegarde Withers series with Edna May giving her all to a plot-heavy number of names and suspects. Better just sit back and watch Oliver at work, stealing every scene with assurance and almost making us believe in the baffling proceedings. Leo G. Carroll does a nice job as a harried movie director. Lola Lane is a pleasant distraction but it's Edna May's movie all the way.

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.

... which would be Edna May Oliver as schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and James Gleason as NYPD detective Oscar Piper. The first film had these two on their way to get married at the conclusion, but that would have ruined the sequels, so they are just good friends and colleagues. In this installment, Hildegarde is going to Catalina on a seaplane when a fellow passenger suddenly takes ill and dies. Law enforcement on the island seems rather lax, and the coroner is just going to chalk it up to heart failure. For some reason, Hildegarde thinks it is murder. Not getting any help from the locals, she wires Oscar in New York. It turns out the man who died was hiding from the police as he was a key witness to the crimes of a big city gang and was afraid for his life. Apparently he was justified in that fear. Oscar thus flies to Catalina to do further investigation, but then the body is stolen in the middle of the night so there can't be a proper autopsy.

So everybody on the plane is a suspect, and they could have been hired by the mob in New York to do away with this guy, but none of them have obvious criminal histories. The plot thus gets rather involved as is the search for the missing body. The fact that the production code is in force blunts the banter between Hildegarde and Oscar, but they are still good together. There was something special about Oliver as Hildegard - The way she adjusted her wrap after making a point, Those eyes that sparkled, the all knowing look she would give. Unfortunately this will be her last film in this role as she switches studios from RKO to MGM where she plays in support of a number of production code era costume dramas. I don't think that movie factory MGM ever got the mileage out of her that little RKO did. But I digress. I would recommend this one, but definitely see "Penguin Pool Murder" first as it lays the groundwork for the relationship between Withers and Piper.