Having Wonderful Crime

I am watching this right now on TCM. Newlyweds Jake and Helen Justis (George Murphy and Carole Landis) are on their honeymoon when they see a musician being stuffed into a trunk. They decide to find out what's going on and enlist their lawyer friend Mike Malone (Pat O'Brien) to come along. The clues lead them to a resort hotel where all sorts of slapstick highjinks take place. The physical comedy bits are reminiscent of The Ritz Brothers. George Murphy, with his huge grin, looks like a combination of The Joker and Howdy Doody. Pat O'Brien always wound up as second banana. Carole Landis really brings a lot of energy to her role and seems to enjoy the light comedy. She is always worth watching. Other familiar faces in this movie are George Zucco, Richard Martin, (Tim Holt's B-western sidekick), Lenore Aubert, Gloria Holden (Dracula's Daughter), and Wee Willie Davis. And be sure to watch at about 43 minutes into the movie for a brief view of blonde Chili Williams. She was known as "The Polka Dot Girl." Chili received over 100,000 fan letters after a photo of her wearing a polka dot bikini appeared in Life Magazine. She got a movie contract and appeared in a few films, always clad in a polka dot outfit. And she is definitely wearing polka dots in her brief appearance here. Not an overly good movie but not real bad either. Watch it to see Carole Landis.

Sprightly B-comedy that follows the first rule of good movie-making—Keep things moving. No dead spots here, thanks to up-tempo director Ed Sutherland. But then the 70-minutes has that fast-talking dynamo Pat O'Brien never at a wisecrack loss. But even more, there's a really sparkling Carole Landis. So guys, if you've never seen her, what an eyeful. She really fills out the 40's wardrobe, plus enough blonde hair to start a mattress factory. And she can do a ton of comedy—catch her lively reactions to most every situation in a situation filled movie. Hard to think of her as ever being depressed, as I guess she unfortunately was.

Not everything is roses. If you can follow the mystery plot, there's a place for you at Cal Tech, and that's after a really good set-up— a disappearing magician who actually disappears! Then too, there's a slightly befuddled George Murphy wondering how to keep up with his two co-stars. But that's okay since he has little to do but follow them around. Also, ace villain George Zucco is largely wasted in what turns out to be a minor role.

Still, it's a lively and engaging little wartime farce, just the kind of upbeat entertainment for the nightshift at the airplane factory. Then too, I expect the boys overseas got extra motivated seeing all the movie's great looking girls. But, above all, it's a Carole Landis showcase that still gets a big share of chuckles, even 60-years later.

This movie appears to be a series that never developed. It begins by telling the viewer that Malloy is always being dragged into mysteries by his friends and then he's dragged into one.

It's a shame they only made one of these, because it's one of the better detective comedies of the era; not as good as the Thin Man movies, but with a similar sensibility and a cute, light-hearted tone. O'Brien does a good job as the hapless lead and Landis shows a giddy charm as his scattered friend. Murphy makes less of an impression but is basically fine.

The movie is a bit sloppy in terms of plotting; I lost track of what was going on at some point and ended up without the slightest idea of why the murder had been committed. But in spite of sloppy storytelling this is a very enjoyable little movie.

Pleasant but mostly boring and unfunny comedy about a newlywed couple (Carole Landis, George Murphy) and their lawyer friend (Pat O'Brien) that get involved in murders and mysteries. Landis is breathtakingly beautiful as always and provides most of the movie's humor, albeit strained as it is. Murphy is strictly dullsville but tries his best. Then there's Pat O'Brien. Poor Pat. Always the best man, never the groom. Pat spent most of the 1930s playing runner-up to Jimmy Cagney and here it looks like he's still playing second banana. This time to George Murphy of all people. And trust me brother Mrs. Murphy's favorite son is NO Cagney! This is one of those films that is neither great nor terrible. I personally didn't find it that funny but others might.

I would recommend you see it for Carole Landis alone. She was one of the screen's great beauties and had such unrealized potential as an actress and comedienne. The end of her career was filled with mediocre films like this. Some worse. Perhaps that played a part in why she took her life at the age of 29. I don't know. But I do know she was a memorable screen presence who never broke through to superstardom like she should have.

Having Wonderful Crime (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Pretty good comedy-mystery from RKO has a lawyer (Pat O'Brien) and his two wacky, newlywed friends (George Murphy, Carole Landis) having fun solving various crimes. This time out they're investigating a magician (George Zucco) who disappeared during his act and might have been murdered due to a previous job. This RKO flick features a pretty good cast and they're certainly the main reason to watch this thing. The majority of the film goes for laughs and it gets quite a few of them thanks in large part to the chemistry of the cast. O'Brien has the perfect sense of humor for this type of film as he always plays it straight but at the same time he has no problem looking silly if he has to. His more serious nature works perfectly well with both Murphy and Landis who are more over the top. The three stars fit their roles nicely and have no trouble mixing up all the comedy bits. Horror fans will enjoy seeing Zucco in his brief part but they'll also get to see Lenore Aubert from ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN and Gloria Holden from DRACULA'S DAUGHTER. Aubert gets to go over the top as well especially during some bizarre crying scenes and I'm really not sure if these scenes were meant to be serious or if she was just horrid at crying. At just 70-minutes the film goes by extremely quick and director Sutherland does a fine job at keeping everything moving. The screenplay goes for a lot of dry wit and fast laughs and it's able to get most of them but there are several scenes with people either falling into a lake or pools and I must admit that I grew tired of these falls. Inside a hotel is where a lot of the mystery happens and most of it involves a trunk that keeps disappearing and this leads to some decent laughs as does O'Brien's character who is constantly chasing women.