Third, and best of the six Hildegarde Withers murder mystery films was also the last one to feature indispensable horse-faced star Edna May Oliver.* (After PENGUIN POOL MURDER/’32 and MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD/’34; before MURDER ON A BRIDLE PATH/’36 with Helen Broderick and then Zasu Pitts in THE PLOT THICKENS/’36 and FORTY NAUGHTY GIRLS/’37.*) James Gleason stayed for all six as irascible, open-minded Homicide Inspector Piper, but as the series’ modest charms were largely built on the grudging respect & unlikely friendship that grows behind the bickering of schoolteacher/amateur sleuth and hardheaded police vet, any antic charm runs thin without the eccentric comic thrust of Edna May. This one, neatly helmed by Lloyd Corrigan and imaginatively shot by Nicholas Musuraca, offers some nice Catalina Island location work, a planeload of suspect passengers, and a gang-related offing for Hildegarde to investigate, dangerous enough to cause Gleason to fly out to make sure his gal pal doesn’t get rubbed out uncovering the killer(s). Good, lively fun.
DOUBLE-BILL: *Oliver left R.K.O. after this for M-G-M and one of her greatest roles as Aunt Betsey in DAVID COPPERFIELD/’35.
CONTEST: *Eddie Cline, who directed NAUGHTY GIRLS and co-directed some Buster Keaton two-reelers back in the ‘20s, reuses a famous gag from one of those shorts to good effect there. Name the Keaton short and the gag to win a MAKSQUIBS Write-Up of your choosing.
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