The Great Gambini

The evening before they are to be wed, Roland Drew and fiancee Marian Marsh are out clubbing with her parents, Reginald Denny and Genevieve Tobin and friends. Part of the floor show is Akim Tamiroff in a mentalist act. When Miss Marsh asks if her marriage will be happy, the answer comes back: she will not be married the next day. Instead, the following morning, Drew is found dead in his apartment by his valet. Soon Police sergeant William Demarest and assistant Eddie Brophy are on the scene, investigating and questioning anyone who might know anything about the matter.

Charles Vidor has directed a very pleasant B movie from Frederick Jackson, drawing out some interesting performances. In contrast to his usual screen persona, Tamiroff is light, bright, and charming. Miss Tobin seems to be doing a dead-on Billie Burke impersonation, and the rest of the cast are well up to their roles. With Tamiroff offering solutions, throwing his voice, escaping handcuffs, and running rings around the dogged Demarest, I found myself too caught up in his antics to figure out who killed Drew, even though the clues were presented in an absolutely fair manner. See if you can spot Dennis O'Keefe in the night club, just before he began to be credited regularly.