The Gracie Allen Murder Case

Everyone dislikes this picture. Especially George Burns, who had the good sense not to appear in it. (His part was re-written to accommodate Kent Taylor). Gracie, of course, was stuck. Her good friend, S.S. Van Dine, had written the novel just for her. So who else could play the title role? ZaSu Pitts? Billie Burke? Perhaps Alice Brady might have given it a twirl had she not gone all serious in In Old Chicago.

Well, actually, on approaching the movie a second time, I found it not so bad after all. Not riotously funny, mind, but tolerably entertaining at worst and quite enjoyable at best. The climax is even reasonably suspenseful.

Production values generally come well up to the mark. The support cast is great. Warren William (who played Vance in 1934's Dragon Murder Case) makes a delightful straight man, Ellen Drew impresses as the heroine, H.B. Warner has a grand time as the lawyer, and it's hard to ignore Jerome Cowan as the slimy Mirche.

Aside from its over-extended, hands-on fade-out, Green's direction has enough pace to overcome most of Gracie's flat-footed business and dialogue. And although we are blinded by an outpouring of light every time the camera focuses on the said Miss Allen, photographer Charles Lang does manage more than a few pleasingly atmospheric effects.

Warren William makes the second of his two appearances as S.S. Van Dine's detective Philo Vance in this picture. But actor William and detective Vance both have a lot of trouble making sure people remembered they were in The Gracie Allen Murder Case.

Even without George Burns to pace their routine Gracie Allen does well enough on her own in this film where she seemingly hinders more than she helps William solve the murder of an escaped convict. Seemingly stood up at a society bash Jed Prouty pairs off young Kent Taylor with his niece Gracie. Inadvertently Taylor gives Gracie a clue to the murder that he doesn't yet know about but of whom he is neatly being slipped into a nice frame.

Of course Gracie's non sequitur babbling almost lands Taylor in Sing Sing's prize chair and then she almost implicates Vance in her own special la-de-da way.

Although William seems to be taking this all in stride he's barely keeping up with Gracie in the title role. Both Donald MacBride as DA Markham and William Demarest as Sergeant Heath both known for their slow burns are given ample provocation by Gracie.

It's Gracie's picture and if you've never seen her before this film will make you a fan even if it's without George Burns.

When I first heard there was a murder mystery starring Gracie Allen I was very excited, both because I love old comedy-mysteries and because I love Gracie. I assumed this was something created in Hollywood, and was surprised to learn the creator of Philo Vance actually wrote a book featuring Gracie Allen.

Without Gracie Allen this would be a pretty forgettable movie with a bland detective, so it's good that Gracie is never off screen for more than about a minute. She is a constant, very funny presence, referring to Philo as Fido and insisting she knows a song only to turn it into a medley of songs that it is not.

George Burns always said that the success of Burns and Allen had far more to do with Allen than Burns, and this movie suggests he was right. Certainly Burns was a much better straight man than anyone Allen meets in the film, but Gracie doesn't really need much to work with; she's just really funny, and the script is full of wonderfully daffy lines.

It's a shame though, that there was never a Burns and Allen mystery, because Burns would have made a much better detective than the guy playing Philo Vance. Oddly enough, I've read that Burns is in the book in the character of the perfume guy, but suggested that character be excised from the movie. Don't know why.

Anyway, if you're a fan of Gracie this is prime Gracie. She's the only thing that makes this movie worth watching, but she makes it very worth watching indeed.

I've always loved the scatter-brained comedy of Gracie Allen, but she is terribly out of place in this (so-called) "mystery". Don't get me wrong -- she's EXCELLENT but, unfortunately, "overwhelms" the film, and the mystery is lost in the shuffle. Warren William (as Philo) is pitifully wasted in this film.

A better title for this film should be, "What Happened to Philo Vance"?

If you are interested in the arc of development of the mystery gene, follow the Philo Vance series.

When they started, they were complex puzzles, incredibly complex and imaginative. They had a hard time conveying elements of the mystery cinematically (instead of by exposition), but they tried and sometimes succeeded. They were important and sometimes entertaining as well.

But when a narrative form is mature, it starts to die, the tension to evolve being exhausted. Then what usually happens is that some comic layer is applied, humor being our storehouse of packaged tension.

Here we have Philo Vance essentially at the end, with the bare skeleton of a mystery, serving as a rack for Gracie's dumb comedy act. If you don't know Gracie, it really is the comedy of stupidity. She gets everything wrong. We are supposed to laugh both at the character, who unconvincingly pretends to be pretty and therefore dumb. Thankfully, sex isn't part of the formula.

Its a character that actually worked when with husband George because he was so amazingly patient and loving, the humor was in the apparent normalcy of her. Here, she's abnormal. The actual jokes are all verbal humor and have some power outside of the character. Its a comic tradition we seem to have lost because it depends on people actually listening to words and having some sense what is correct. The Marx brothers used this as well. No one does today, but there is something similar in spoof movies which misquote movie "language."

The mystery involves poisoned vapors.

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