Mad Holiday

Philip Trent (Edmund Lowe) plays the popular film character, private detective Shelby James, as written by Peter Dean (Elissa Landi). He hates the character and the work. He quits the long-running series and goes on a cruise ship vacation. A mysterious blonde barges into his room and seemingly murders somebody. He stumbles upon the body just he claims to hate about the films.

I like the starting premise but I lose interest in the murder mystery. There are ways to heighten the intensity. The leads don't have enough chemistry until getting handcuffed together. Maybe they just needed some time alone. They need to get arrested sooner and the story should finish on board the ship. It's a lot of joking around. The murder mystery gets convoluted and confused. This has a bit of fun. I can do without the fake Chinese but that's the times. I would think that the idea was to make this a long-running amateur sleuth couple franchise. At last, this isn't one which lasted.

"Mad Holiday" is a typical low budget 30s thriller, centering on Edmund Lowe as a vacationing movie idol, a shipboard killer and a diamond heist. But the real mystery is why Loew's co-star, Elissa Landi, never became a star in her own right. Rising above the grade B trappings as an incognito author, she's a revelation...sexy, stylish and bouyantly amusing with the sparkle of a Rosalind Russell or Katherine Hepburn. She also gave a stand-out performance in the second "Thin Man" caper, "After the Thin Man" (albeit in a less captivating role.) But by 1943, her screen career was over. She's not the only gifted performer who somehow got lost in the maze of the studio system. But watching her sail through this otherwise tepid crime story, one an only wonder how Hollywood let her get away.

Phil Trent (Ed Lowe) has been playing a super sleuth in films for years now, and wants to just get away for a while. he gets on a cruise ship to escape, but of course the crowds recognize him. his publisher pulls a stunt that makes him look foolish. in all the confusion, he meets the actual writer of the detective stories who just HAPPENS to be on the same cruise ship. Zasu Pitts is in here for comedic fun, and plays a drunk who hates drunkards. and the real bodies start piling up. and a diamond is missing. the usual shenanigans. mixups. twists that aren't so surprising. now we're off the ship and in a chinatown theater. and Trent is still hot on the trail of the diamond and the murderer. it's pretty good. low key fun. some slapstick comedy tossed in. Directed by George Seitz. died young at 56, but not much information available on him.

For those of you familiar with The Thin Man starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, you will see many similarities but I believe this is not nearly as good as Powell and Loy together. Edmund Lowe is an actor who plays a detective but is tired of doing the same thing so he wants to take a vacation to get away from what he considers poor detective stories. On the ship he meets up with his co star for the movie, Peter Dean played by Ellisa Landi. They accidentally get involved in a real murder and can't seem to get out of several "scrapes" together. They do all right as a couple but again, I believe this movie tried to copy The Thin Man style and didn't do too well. There's a lot of slapstick in this movie so if you enjoy that from the '30's you will enjoy this movie. All in all it isn't too bad so I gave it a 5 but no higher. If you enjoyed this movie you will love The Thin Man series so I highly recommend any of those.

Edmund Lowe and Elissa Landi are terrific in this comedy-drama directed by sure comedy hand George Seitz. They are supported by the always hilarious Edgar Kennedy and Zasu Pitts, as well as the annoying Ted Healy, with Edmund Gwenn in a small but well-performed role.

The movie looks like it was originally intended for William Powell and Myrna Loy as a spoof on THE THIN MAN, but the lead pair -- Lowe plays a movie actor trapped in a series of successful murder movies written by hack Landi -- manage their own chemistry. Lowe times his wisecracks like Groucho Marx and Landi's timing and character reminds me of Greer Garson, still three years from being noticed by Louis Mayer.

Seitz had had a sure hand for comedy, both as a writer for Broadway and for the movies since silent days. He would direct a couple more great comedies for Metro, including the amazing MY DEAR MISS ALDRICH and then spend the remainder of his life directing the lively Andy Hardy series. If you get a chance to see what he could do with a good script and adult actors, take it.