Hollywood Stadium Mystery

After a bright start, with mystery writer Evelyn Venable outsmarting D.A. Neil Hamilton, and a murder inside a boxing ring just before the match starts, "Hollywood Stadium Mystery" becomes a very ordinary mystery. It does, however, offer the very rare opportunity to see the largely unknown today Venable in a leading role: she is pretty, competent, and has a pleasingly distinctive voice. ** out of 4.

My score of 7 is relative to other B-movies. "Hollywood Stadium Mystery" is much better than average for a low-budget B-film, as it has wonderful chemistry between the two leads (Neil Hamilton and Evelyn Venable). Plus, it's pretty good as a mystery.

The film starts off with a really neat set of opening credits--very creative and it caught my attention. Then, I noticed early on that there were several very good false alarms that caught the viewer off guard. I love it when I am surprised when I see a film! The film is essentially a romance AND a murder mystery--and I am sure this combination is a bit unusual to say the least! The District Attorney (Hamilton) and playwright (Venable) both investigate a crime that occurred at the arena just before a boxing match began--and both of our heroes have a friendly wager as to which one will solve the crime. The interplay of these two was very nice and didn't appear like what you'd expect in a B--it was very witty and fun. As for the mystery, it's not bad but clearly secondary to these two characters.

There is only one major qualm about the film--and it's clearly a sad product of the times. One lady wants to hide from the police so she puts on black-face!! Uggh!! But, this sort of thing wasn't far from the norm in those old days, so it's something you'll have to look past--understanding the context of the times.

If you are interested in seeing this film, follow the link on IMDb and download it for free. You'll enjoy it for what it is--a nice little B-movie with a bit extra when it comes to writing.

really neat opening credits lots of early false alarms Smiley Burnett black-face

A boxing match is the setting for a whodunit murder mystery. But the real focus here is the camaraderie between the local D.A. (Neil Hamilton) and a famed mystery writer (Evelyn Venable). The two engage each other in a friendly duel to see which one can solve the case. The focus on them and their good-humored banter drains away any tension or suspense the story might otherwise have had. But that's hardly the only problem.

Character development of the various suspects is almost non-existent. And only when the puzzle solution is revealed do we learn important information related to the killer's motive. For a murder mystery, that's a no-no. It puts the viewer at an unfair disadvantage. Further, the key clue that leads to the identity of the killer is not at all credible.

In addition, characters talk unnaturally fast. Frequently, there are no pauses between lines of dialogue. The film's runtime of just sixty-two minutes conveys the impression that the project had a serious budget problem.

The film's sound is terrible. Lighting is not much better. Production design is cheap. Acting is marginally acceptable. About the only element worth a positive note is the presence of actress Barbara Pepper, as a Hollywood starlet.

Otherwise, this is a forgettable, way below average film that uses a whodunit storyline as an excuse to provide a cinematic vehicle for the two main actors.

Neil Hamilton plays a District Attorney investigating the murder of a boxer moments before a championship fight. The fighter collapsed with no clear signs of foul play after a tribute to a recently deceased champion. Forced to match wits and trade wisecracks with a mystery writer, played by Evelyn Venable, the DA must try to contend with an arena full of suspects including Smiley Burnette.

This is a great little thriller that gets along mostly on the winning performance of the two leads and the smart quips they trade. They are a later day Nick and Nora who are forever trying to one up each other so as to win which ever five dollar bet that is currently passing between them. While the murder itself doesn't make a great deal of sense when its finally revealed, you really won't care since you'll be having too much fun watching the DA and mystery writer try to out do the other.

I have to say that the look and feel of this movie is spectacular. Looking at it you'd be hard pressed to believe that this was a B-movie with its large cast, numerous and varying sets. Actually to be honest this is what B-movies really used to be, well produced features for the second part of a double bill. If it wasn't for the B-list cast this could easily pass for a main feature.

This is little gem thats worth keeping an eye out for.