The Black Doll

There is a liberal dose of humor in this movie where Edgar Kennedy, master of the slow burn, plays a sheriff investigating a murder in a small town. The point of the plot is the Black Doll of the title and a harbinger of death which appears and disappears through out the proceedings. Kennedy is "aided" by a newspaper reporter who manages to put the whole thing together.

Its a breezy 65 minutes that fly by almost as an after thought. The mystery is clever but it seems stretched out to fill the required running time. The cast is quite good and the whole thing has the feel of something from a lazy Sunday.

Its so breezy as to be utterly forgettable. I recently found this on one of my video tapes and was totally baffled by what it was. I know that I had watched this previously since I removed the commercials at some earlier time, but I can't for the life of me remember ever seeing it other than when I just popped it into the VCR last night. Now some twelve hours later I find the film rapidly disappearing from my mind.

If you want to see a film you'll enjoy for its running time but which will leave no trace on you consciousness, this is the movie for you.

1938's "The Black Doll" was the second of seven Crime Club mysteries from Universal, and the first of two that starred Donald Woods and lovely Nan Grey. Although not included in Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50's, it did air an amazing 4 times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater- December 14 1968 (followed by 1961's "Creature from the Haunted Sea"), May 30 1970 (following 1958's "Invasion of the Animal People"), April 10 1971 (following 1942's "Bowery at Midnight"), and July 14 1973 (following 1936's "Bat Men of Africa"). The opening credits roll to the Franz Waxman score from "Bride of Frankenstein" (as does "The Lady in the Morgue"), with snatches throughout heard from "The Invisible Man," "WereWolf of London," "The Raven," "The Invisible Ray," and "Dracula's Daughter." The mystery is a solid one, featuring C. Henry Gordon as Nelson Rood, who receives a curious black doll as an unwanted reminder of his past murder of a colleague that discovered a rich mine. This ill omen is known only to Rood and his two partners, Walling (John Wray) and Mallison (Addison Richards), both of whom are summoned to Rood's remote country mansion, shortly before the host is killed in front of his daughter (Nan Grey), an eyewitness to the crime through her mirror, but who never saw the murderer. Her boyfriend is Nick Halstead (Donald Woods), who arrives on the scene before the moronic sheriff (Edgar Kennedy), plus the local doctor (Holmes Herbert) living nearby. Also residing in the victim's home are his sister (Doris Lloyd) and her son (William Lundigan), a gambler and forger caught in the act by the now dead Rood. Nan Grey is just adorable, and the climax finds our hero solving the crimes at the breakfast table (!). Plenty of suspects and good atmosphere, let down only by the increasingly irritating antics from the inept authorities, still perfect for late night viewing. The next Crime Club would be "The Lady in the Morgue."

Because they have good casts and a nice dosage of humor, I like the Crime Club murder mysteries and this entry is no exception. The wealthy and overbearing Nicholas Rood finds a Mexican voodoo like black doll on his desk. According to Rood's butler, this signifies an impending death. And sure enough, Rood is killed by a thrown knife. There are suspects galore - among them Rood's sister and wife, the butler and two former partners from whom Rood has been hiding for several years. Rood's daughter and clever boyfriend (the charming Nan Grey and the ever affable Donald Woods) take the lead in the investigation, which is a good thing because the cops investigating the crime, Sheriff Renick and his deputy are pretty dimwitted to say the least. Edgar Kennedy as the Sheriff provides most of the welcome humor. In fact, Kennedy has one of my all time favorite stupid remarks. He says to Woods, "I know something you don't know." "What?" "You're standing on my foot." Even with lines like this, it' a fun and an entertaining movie. Interesting to me is that Holmes Herbert who starred in a number of silent films has the role of Dr. Giddings in this movie. Herbert never rose above character roles in sound films.

This B-movie was the second entry in Universal's long-forgotten Crime Club series, based on a popular run of mystery books of the time. A few of the entries are well above-average, thanks mainly to strong source material (Jonathan Latimer wrote several of the originals) and fine, resourceful low-budget direction by the obscure Otis Garrett (who died just as his career was getting established). This one concerns a skein of murders presaged by a native doll, a revenge plot revolving around the discovery of a rich mine many years before.

This was Garrett's first directorial foray (he had edited the previous entry), and he shows plenty of enthusiasm early on with some clever camera setups (the first murder, by tossed knife, is seen reflected in a mirror). Comedy relief was de rigueur in the genre at the time, and unfortunately, Edgar Kennedy's low-humor bumbling cop is given far to much prominence, totally undermining the creepy atmosphere established before his appearance. Also, the always-nasty C Henry Gordon gets killed off early on in the proceedings. The plot never really gels, and it all ends with one of those Charlie-Chan-style all-the-suspects-in-one-room scenes, which is handled in a disappointingly pedestrian manner. In the leads, Nan Grey is very fetching and Donald Woods affable. Stanley Cortez, still trapped in B-land, was co-cinematographer. Unless you're a completist, you can give this one a miss and try the strikingly-edited "Lady in the Morgue" instead.

This is pretty much a direct copy of the pulp novel formula then popular.

Detective happens to be nearby when a murder is committed. Once engaged, others occur.

The pool of suspects is small and confined to a country home.

The policeman on the case is greatly outclassed by the detective and provides comedy. There is a funny joke here. The sheriff's men are bunglers as well. The sheriff says to them both, better get your act together or you'll be selling popcorn again, meaning: you won't be on the screen any more but in the back at the concession stand.

The solution to the crimes comes while everyone is gathered to hear the detective explain things at the end. Traditionally there are some surprise revelations beyond the murder and that happens here. Also traditionally, the solution to the mystery depends on you having made an assumption about a key fact.

The trick here involves a VooDoo-like doll make of leather that was a child's plaything but appears after decades and repurposed as a curse. The production values are typical for this sort of thing, and the mystery a bit better. There is no offensive racist chauffeur in this one. That slot is filled by a Hispanic butler, whose accent and language are the source of jokes.

Other than the self-referential joke, not much important here.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.