Super-Sleuth

In "Super-Sleuth", Jack Oakie plays an actor who plays movie detectives and is a fat-head and numb-skull. He thinks he's smarter than the police and he inexplicably insists on solving the Poison Pen murders all by himself--even though he's one of the killer's intended victims. Along the way, Oakie mugs and overacts in the way that folks loved back in the day--mostly because he didn't seem to take himself very seriously. Despite knowing NOTHING about solving crimes and mostly making a nuisance of himself through most of the film, he ends up stumbling into the solution--all by dumb luck (it sure ain't intelligence!).

The solution to the crime is incredibly easy. So why did it take everyone to finally figure out that the creepy guy (Eduardo Cianelli) was behind it all?! Also, the scene with the gun near the end of the film is pretty stupid--and NO actor is that stupid and the f wax works section is pretty dumb!! Still, the film is amiable if not particularly surprising. Oakie's style is pleasant and the film modestly entertaining.

The minor "Super-Sleuth" is a cartoon-like, live action film, but with plenty of relaxed, pleasant, and gentle comedic moments. Jack Oakie plays a likeable, almost endearing character, even though he thinks excessively highly of himself. Jack's timing is superb, providing for the viewer a film full of subtle, chuckle-inducing lines, body language, and facial reactions to circumstances he doesn't fully appreciate.

The supporting cast seems to have plenty of fun doing their part to make the film work-- that is except for Ann Southern, who, unfortunately, has little to do in the program other than just kind of be there for Jack. The inside view of making movies in 1937 on set and on location is a bonus. If you go in for viewing not expecting a Cary Grant- or Katherine Hepburn-kind of major league comedy you will enjoy this picture just fine. As a 1930's movie fan I am very glad to have finally seen it!

Jack Oakie is a movie star, best known for a series of detective movies. He's so good in the role that he believes his own publicity and starts a feud with the police department. Then comes the anonymous threatening letter....

Oakie is his usual not-too-bright blowhard, and this RKO programmer shows him at his best, even though his leading-man status wouldn't last much longer; he would have a nice career as best man's buddy in all those brightly lit Fox musicals. With Anne Sothern, Eduardo Cianelli, Edgar Kennedy, and Willie Best, there are some good laughs in this one.

Great chance for moon-faced comedian Jack Oakie to mug it up for an hour or so. He's a movie detective at a Hollywood studio in what's obviously a spoof of movie sleuths so popular at the time. Never mind that his Willard Martin is a 30-watt bulb in a 60-watt world. Martin has convinced himself he's the greatest actor since Barrymore, so it's fun to watch him bumble along head held high even as his rear-end sags. Still, Oakie manages the egotistical character without making him obnoxious.

It's a slender exercise that has someone trying to kill Martin because they didn't like his last movie— what inspired motivation! Still, the screenplay should have made a mystery of the public-spirited culprit instead of tipping us off so early. That would have added an extra element of comical suspense. Anyway, the lovely Ann Sothern is a studio flack who has her hands full keeping the bumbler out of trouble, while trying to stay away from Prof. Herman's house of horrors. Maybe the best parts are the behind-the-scenes look at movie-making on a sound stage and on location. Paul Guilfoyle breaks from his usual wacky characters to play the no-nonsense movie director, of all things. The wind-up is a whirlwind slapstick through the professor's museum, making this a lively if slender glimpse of the bottom-of-the-bill, 1930's style.

In Hollywood, Bill Martin (Jack Oakie) plays a detective on film. He gets into a feud with the real police. Studio publicist Mary Strand (Ann Sothern) isn't happy with him either although she does really like him. He starts getting creepy fan letters from "The Poison Pen". With a killer targeting him, he and Mary go to amateur sleuth Professor Herman (Eduardo Ciannelli) for help.

Bill Martin is somewhat a self-obsessed boob. I don't hate him but I don't love him either. With a bit of well placed charms, he could be a passable romantic lead. Oakie needs some work. Sothern is doing all the work in the relationship. The hair piece is the funniest gag but it's the Lieutenant. There is still some fun to be had.