Mr. and Mrs. North

Mr. and Mrs. North discover a body and the rest of the film consists of them trying to convince others they had nothing to do with it as well as to help discover the murderer. During this time, Mrs. North (Gracie Allen) acts like an annoying dingbat.

This is a decent little mystery film in the same tradition as the Thin Man films and the writing is pretty good, However, I am amazed by the odd casting job and wish IMDb could clue us in to why this was done. For the one and only time, Gracie Allen appears without her husband George Burns. Instead, some no-name actor (William Post Jr.) plays her husband and Gracie essentially plays the same character she played with George. This is pretty weird and the chemistry doesn't quite work because of this. You just keep expecting George to come stepping onto the screen.

Overall, it's an odd little curio that's a decent time-passer but not a lot more.

Gracie Allen and William Post, Jr. are the Norths in "Mr. and Mrs. North," based on the characters created by Francis and Richard Lockridge. Actually, all the studio did was take the names and attempt to make them into Thin Man ripoffs. I read a lot of Mr. and Mrs. North books, and all I remember is that they drank like fish and had a college-age son.

This is a fun mystery, with Gracie being Gracie, but William Post, Jr. is not quite right for her. Of course her ideal partner was George Burns, who looked upon her antics with wry humor. Post kind of sighs and gives up. Also given the way he acts, it's kind of hard to figure out why they got married.

Felix Bressart is a riot as the Fowler Brush Man who is summoned to the D.A.'s office and keeps introducing himself as "The Fowler Brush Man" and getting thrown out of every office. Great to see a young Virginia Grey, too, and Jerome Cowan, Tom Conway, Fortunio Bonanova as the landlord, and Paul Kelly as the detective on the murder case. He cringes every time he hears the name "Mrs. North." You might too, so watch at your own risk.

Publisher Jerry North (William Post Jr.) returns home exhausted from a business trip only to be stunned when he and his scatter-brained wife, Pam (Gracie Allen), find a dead body in a closet.

The subsequent investigation reveals that Pam has surprising knowledge about an affair between a friend and the wife of the murdered man.

The police question Jerry, Pam and a wide array of suspects from a door-to-door salesman to a secretary to a patent attorney, before deciding that Jerry is the killer.

Mr and Mrs North is a fun mystery in the vein of the Thin Man series, however Gracie North towers over her husband with her endless waffling - I felt that William Post, though adequate enough, didn't match her or be a good foil; their chemistry was sort of lacking, but nevertheless it's fun with a good list of suspects and nice one liners. Gets tedious towards the end, though.

Although Gracie Allen outdid herself in the Gracie Allen Murder Case, this film has Gracie solving the mystery in her own inimitable fashion. Her conclusions, as only she can reach them.

I guess if you were exposed to a lot of Gracie Allen, with or without hubby George Burns, you would have a different perspective. While I've seen Gracie with George a time or two, can't say I'm overexposed with her. She came across very attractive and interesting in this. She's refreshing if you haven't had your fill of her elsewhere. I didn't miss George especially - hey, they were doing something different here, likely attempting to trade on her popularity. But, it took a little while getting used to her with hubby, Post, seeming too young and precocious himself. Mr. Burns, being much the dry, straight man, is a perfect foil. However, this Post is an attractive fellow, who did fine. It's not a tight spy thriller, after all. I really liked Gracie talking through the credits at the end. That was a very funny touch. I don't know what most expect from this type of thing, but for what it was, a mystery comedy on the lower budget order, it was good. You had the usual improbable hijinks going on, the usual sort of fairly inept coppers and the usual suspects. Though there were some good actors in this, it was Gracie's show, shared mainly with Post, her husband, who, again, I thought did a good job.