Stubs - Three Godfathers (1936)

Three Godfathers (1936) starring Chester Morris, Lewis Stone, Walter Brennan. Directed by Richard Boleslawski. Screenplay by Edward E. Paramore Jr. and Manuel Seff. Based on the novel The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne (New York, 1913). Produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Run time: 85 minutes. Black and White. USA. Western, Christmas.

The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne a 1913 novel, was a very popular source for films in early Hollywood, being made into several productions, including The Sheriff's Baby, a 1913 Biograph film directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Harry Carey, Lionel Barrymore, and Henry B. Walthall; a 1916 Bluebird film directed by Edward J. Le Saint and starring Harry Carey and Stella Razeto; a 1919 Universal picture called Marked Men directed by John Ford that also starred Carey; a 1930 Universal picture called Hell's Heroes, directed by William Wyler and starring Charles Bickford; and a 1948 MGM picture called 3 Godfathers, again directed by Ford, and starring John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz and Harry Carey, Jr. A television movie version entitled The Godchild appeared on the ABC network in 1974, directed by John Badham and starring Jack Palance.

In this case, we’re looking at the 1936 MGM version Three Godfathers directed by Richard Boleslawski. Filming took place between November 27, 1935 and January 4, 1936 was partially shot on location in Mojave, California. The film was released on March 6, 1936. It would be retitled Miracle in the Sand when it was shown on television.

Stubs - Sabotage

Sabotage (1936) (aka The Woman Alone) Starring: Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, John Loder Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Screenplay by Charles Bennett Based on the novel The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad (London, 1907). Produced by Michael Balcon Run Time: 76 minutes United Kingdom Thriller

While Alfred Hitchcock is usually remembered for his Hollywood films, he had a successful career in England before David O. Selznick signed him to a contract and brought him stateside. Some of his better films from this period include The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927), Blackmail (1929), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), The Lady Vanishes (1938) and Sabotage.

Stubs - Wife vs. Secretary

Wife vs. Secretary (1936) Starring: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, James Stewart. Directed by Clarence Brown. Screenplay by Norman Krasna, John Lee Mahin, Alice Duer Miller Based on the short story "Wife Versus Secretary" by Faith Baldwin in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan (May 1935). Produced by Hunt Stromberg Run time: 88 minutes. USA Black and White Comedy, Drama

Let me start off the review by saying I’m a very big Jean Harlow fan. I know the hair is peroxided but there is something very genuine and genuinely sexy about her. I have not had a chance to see all of the films in her sadly short Hollywood career but I do look forward to seeing them all. The more I see of her films, the more I see that she co-starred with Clark Gable in six films, this being the fifth. I’m sure it was a match made in Hollywood heaven.

But Clark Gable was not the first choice for the male lead. That was originally going to William Powell, with whom Harlow was an item at the time. But Powell was too busy with other productions to appear in the film.

Stubs - San Francisco (1936)

San Francisco (1936) Starring Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Ted Healy Directed by W.S. Van Dyke. Screenplay by Anita Loos. Produced by John Emerson, Bernard H. Hyman. Black and White. Run Time: 115 minutes. U.S.A. Drama, Musical, Disaster

When we think of disaster films, we tend to think of the 1970’s and Irwin Allen, called the “Master of Disaster.” His productions included such films as The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). These films helped to define the disaster genre, with their over-the-top situations and its stable of star cameo appearances. But while Allen may have been the Master, he was far from the first to make a disaster film.

The genre dates back to the beginnings of film, with Fire! (1901) made by James Williamson of England. Throughout silent films, disaster films were being made. The Titanic, which sank in 1912, was the subject of a pair of films, In Nacht und Eis (1912) and Atlantis (1913). The Bible was used as the basis for Noah’s Ark (1928). The trend continued when films added sound. Tidal waves destroy New York City in Deluge (1933) not to mention New York being ravaged by a giant ape in King Kong (1933). Add to the list, The Last Days of Pompeii (1935), a film about the real volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. So, it should be no surprise that the destruction of San Francisco only 30 years prior should be fodder for Hollywood.

On April 18, 1906, at 5:12 AM, a 7.8 earthquake struck San Francisco and Northern California. Not only were at least 3000 people killed, but most of the city was razed as a result. When gas lines ruptured, fires spread. Without water, they were forced to blow up buildings with the hope of creating fire breaks. Damage and death were felt as far away as Santa Rosa and San Jose. The earthquake was so strong that the course of the Salinas River in Monterey County was permanently diverted 6 miles south.

The aftermath of the 1906 Earthquake that struck San Francisco.

So, I know what you’re asking, “If San Francisco is a disaster film why is the genre musical?” You can’t have Jeanette MacDonald in a movie and not have singing. She made several early sound films with Maurice Chevalier at Paramount, but is perhaps best known for her work with Nelson Eddy at M-G-M. Her popularity was near its height during 1936, in which she starred with Eddy in one of the highest-grossing films, Rose-Marie, and with Clark Gable in San Francisco.

The first draft of the script was written by Herman J. Mankiewicz based on a story by Robert Hopton on January 18, 1935, but was rewritten by Anita Loos. While most screenwriters were male, Loos was arguably the first-ever staff scriptwriter, thanks to D.W. Griffith, who put her on the payroll at Triangle Film Corporation. By then she had already written hundreds of scripts. Between 1912 and 1915, she wrote 105, all but four of which were produced. After leaving Triangle, Roos went to work for Douglas Fairbanks, writing the films that would make him a star.

Loos is also known for the racy comic novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1925), which was adapted into a Broadway musical and twice made into a movie. While the film from 1928 is now lost, the 1953 musical version starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell is the best-known adaptation.

After several rewrites, Loos had the screenplay that would be made into San Francisco. Even though Loos had written the script with Clark Gable in mind, actor Bruce Cabot was tested for the lead. Several other actors were supposed to appear in the film, including Mickey Rooney.

The film went into production on February 14, 1936, and didn’t conclude until May 14^th , which is a long schedule for back then when studios were releasing about one film a week.

When the film opens, Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) and Tim Mullin (Spencer Tracy) are in their shorts boxing. Tim manages to knock Blackie down before they call the exercise off. Blackie gets dressed in his suit while Tim puts on his collar. Blackie, as it turns out, is a saloonkeeper and gambler, while Tim is a Roman Catholic priest.

Club-owner Blackie Norton (Clark Gable) boxing with
his best friend, Father Tim Mullin (Spencer Tracy).

On New Year’s Day 1906, there are fires along the Barbary Coast which interrupt the revelries of Blackie Norton, the owner of the Paradise Club. At first, he’s worried that it is his club that’s on fire, but when he sees that it’s not, he rushes to the blaze to help in the rescue of two children trapped inside.

Afterward, he returns to the Paradise, where Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) has come looking for work. A recent arrival from Benson, Colorado, Mary is the daughter of a country preacher and out-of-work. Even though she has no experience other than singing in the church choir, Blackie likes her and offers her a two-year contract to sing at his club. He lets her stay at his place, to sleep on the couch, but as a precaution, she locks his door to keep him in his room.

Mary Blake (Jeanette MacDonald) sings for Blackie while Mat (Ted Healy) watches.

The next morning, she’s gone, but Blackie can’t worry about her, because a citizen’s group, upset by the New Year’s Eve fires, come to urge Blackie to run for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on the promise of reforming the outdated fire code, as well as protect the interests of the Barbary Coast's merchants and club owners.

Blackie is encouraged by Father Tim Mullin (Spencer Tracy), his childhood friend, and accepts the challenge. His candidacy prompts Jack Burley (Jack Holt), a Nob Hill resident and the owner of tenements along the Barbary Coast, to come to Blackie and advise him against running.

Burley also owns the Tivoli Opera House and comes accompanied by the Tivoli’s maestro, Signor Baldini (William Ricciardi), who hears Mary’s singing and they immediately offer her an audition. But even though Mary has aspirations to become an opera singer, Blackie refuses to let her out of her contract with him.

Another reason to have Mary sing; Blackie sends her to Father Mullin's church.

One night, between her shows at the Paradise, Blackie sends Mary to sing at Father Mullin’s church to be one of the singers at the unveiling of their new pipe organ. It gives the two of them a chance to talk. Tim tells Mary about his boyhood friendship with Blackie and expresses the hope that Blackie will one day act as a force for good.

Father Mullin and Mary talk about Blackie.

Later, Burley offers to buyout Blackie’s contract with Mary, but Blackie leaves the decision up to her. Out of a sense of loyalty, Mary decides to stay at the Paradise. Blackie tells her then that he’s crazy about her and sets out to throw a party to celebrate their new relationship. But quickly, Mary starts to feel like just another conquest for Blackie and flees to the Tivoli.

On her opening night at the opera house, Burley proposes to her, but she does not accept. Later, Blackie shows up accompanied by a process server, bent on enforcing his contract with Mary and stopping the show. But when he hears her singing, Blackie is so moved that he physically stops the process server from fulfilling his duty.

Blackie and Jack Burley (Jack Holt) are rivals for Mary's affections.

After the show, Blackie goes backstage to Mary’s dressing room. She knows that she loves him and proposes marriage to him. Burley learns from Blackie about their plans and appeals to Mary, but Blackie presents her with an ultimatum by asking if she wants to marry him or stay at the Tivoli.

Backstage before her first performance back at the Paradise, Mary asks Blackie if they can set a date for the wedding. He tells her that he wants to wait until after the election. Tim comes to the Club.

Mary's "revealing" outfit is too much for Father Tim and he
tries to prevent her from performing at Blackie's club.

When he sees the revealing costume that Blackie has her dressed in he denounces Blackie for exploiting her. Tim tries to prevent her from going onstage. In the scuffle, Blackie punches Tim. When Mary sees that, she quits and leaves with the Father.

Burley’s mother (Jessie Ralph) convinces Mary to accept her son’s proposal after telling her that Blackie is not a good man for her. She relates her own story, starting as a washerwoman in Portsmouth Square. She had a man like Blackie in her life but chose instead to marry a solid man like the Elder Burley. Hearing that story convinces Mary to make her choice.

Burley celebrates his winning of Mary by arranging to have the Paradise’s liquor license revoked. Police raid the Paradise the night of the Chickens Ball, a competition that Blackie’s performers have won every year. They close down the club and jail his performers. Blackie really needs the prize money to help finance his campaign, but with his entertainers jailed he has no hope. He receives yet another blow when his friend Mat (Ted Healy) informs Blackie that the citizen’s group is withdrawing their support for his candidacy because the campaign has become too personal.

Mary and Burley attend the Chickens Ball and are confronted by Della Bailey (Margaret Irving), an old and loyal friend of Blackie’s, who tells them what she really thinks of Burley for closing down the Paradise.

Della Bailey (Margaret Irving) a "friend" of Blackie's brings him to
the Chickens Ball to hear Mary sing on behalf of his club.

With the competition almost over, Mary announces that she’ll be performing on behalf of the Paradise. Della sends for Blackie, while Mary gets on stage, where she sings a crowd-pleasing rendition of “San Francisco,” a song written especially for the movie by Bronislaw Kaper and Walter Jurmann, with lyrics by Gus Kahn. But just as she is about to be declared the winner, Blackie arrives and refuses to take the award from her. Feeling humiliated, Mary prepares to leave with Burley when the earth starts to shake and the building begins to crumble. Even though Mary and Blackie call out for each other, they are separated in the chaos.

The quake strikes and destroys San Francisco.

Within a few minutes, San Francisco is destroyed and Blackie is buried when a wall collapses on top of him. After the earthquake subsides, Blackie pulls himself out of the rubble and goes searching for Mary. There are fires breaking out all over the city, but without water, the firemen are resorting to dynamiting buildings with the hope of stopping the fires.

Blackie walks the streets looking for Mary.

Blackie finds Burley’s dead body and then walks to the family’s Nob Hill mansion. Mrs. Burley is being evacuated so that her home can be dynamited. She already seems resigned to the death of her son and tells Blackie that they both need “God’s help.”

Blackie goes to Nob Hill to tell Mrs. Burley (Jessie Ralph)
about her son's death. They watch as San Francisco burns.

After wandering around the city, Blackie finds Tim, who is doing his part in comforting the injured. Blackie asks him if he’s seen Mary. Realizing Blackie’s contrition, Tim takes him to a refugee camp where Mary is leading the dispossessed in a hymn. Mary sees Blackie as he kneels down in prayer to thank God for sparing Mary. She goes to his side and they’re reunited just as word comes that the fires are finally out.

Mary is, what else, leading the survivors in a hymn.

Blackie and Mary join the others as they march back to the city singing “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah.” The film ends at a vantage point looking down at the city in ruins and then morphs into a then modern view of the city following reconstruction.

The film proved to be quite popular. Made on a budget of $1.3 million, according to MGM records the film earned $5,273,000 ($2,868,000 domestically and $2,405,000 overseas) and made a profit of $2,237,000. The film would also be nominated for six Academy Awards, including Outstanding Production; Best Director (W.S. Van Dyke); Best Actor (Spencer Tracy); Best Writing (Original Story) for Robert Hopkins; Best Assistant Director (Joseph M. Newman) and winning for Best Sound Recording (Douglas Shearer).

For an early disaster film, the effects were considered state of the art, though nowadays they seem almost quaint with its use of models. This is definitely in the days before CGI and before special effects were considered worthy of awards. But there is more to the film than some shaking, collapses and fires. This is supposed to be a romance set against the tragedy, something James Cameron would do as well in Titanic (1997).

The star of the film, Clark Gable, plays his usual macho man with a soft heart that he would play in many of his films. He is what was considered a man’s man back in the day with heavy drinking, gambling and a way with the ladies. Again, this doesn’t seem to be a real stretch for him. Despite that, he was somewhat nervous about appearing in a musical opposite Jeanette MacDonald without being able to sing himself.

And while MacDonald can sing, she is not my cup of tea. Her voice may be a great delight to some, but for me, every time she opens her mouth to sing, it is like so many fingernails on a chalkboard. I have never been a fan and this is not the film to change that opinion. She plays wholesome well, but at 32 or 33, her age when she made the film, she is a little too old for the just starting out role.

Spencer Tracy doesn’t seem to have a big enough role to have been nominated for Best Actor. While an important character, his is clearly in a supporting role in this film. Tracy, like many film actors, had a stage background, and was once called “the best-goddamned actor I've ever seen" by none other than George M. Cohan. There doesn’t seem to be a part that he couldn’t play and excel at, however, this is not really a showcase for his talents, nor does the role seem to challenge him much.

Ted Healy, who has the role of Mat, may not have been a big star or even a name you might recognize, but he is responsible for one of the most famous comedic trios to ever grace the silver screen. Healy started out in Vaudeville, working in an act that included his childhood friend, Moses Horowitz. The two would eventually go their separate ways and Healy would have a very successful career, becoming one of its highest paid actors on the circuit, making $9000 a week. He added acts to his stage show, even including acrobats.

It was when Healy’s acrobats quit in 1922 that Moses would re-enter the picture. Moses, also known as Moe Howard, became a part of the act, eventually adding his brother Shemp in 1923 and Larry Fine in 1925 and the Three Stooges were born, even though they were sometimes known as “Ted Healy and his Southern Gentlemen,” "The Three Lost Souls" and “Howard, Fine and Howard.” The group would eventually part ways with Healy in 1930 over a movie contract.

Director W.S. Van Dyke had once worked with famed and infamous silent film director D.W. Griffith, now an outcast in Hollywood. But Van Dyke put his old boss to work, having him direct some of the mob scenes in the film. Another silent director, Erich von Stroheim, who by now was acting and not directing in films, also helped with the screenplay, but without receiving credit.

Overall, San Francisco is more of a time capsule than a really great movie. While I wouldn’t discourage you to watch it, there are other films from this time period that I would recommend more. If you’re a fan of Clark Gable or Spencer Tracy, then you will enjoy seeing these two actors together. If you’re a fan of Jeanette MacDonald, then I don’t know what to tell you.


Be sure to check out our Academy Awards Review Hub for more films which were nominated and won Hollywood's most prestiguous award. 

Stubs – Love on the Run (1936)

Love on the Run (1936) Starring: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke. Screenplay by Gladys Hurlbut, John Lee Mahin, Manuel Seff. Based on the short story "Beauty and the Beat" by Alan Green and Julian Brodie in Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan (Mar 1936). Produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Run Time: 80 minutes. U.S. Black and White. Comedy

While Hollywood in the 30’s and 40’s was famous for romantic pairings on the screen, sometimes those could be love triangles as is the case with Love on the Run, the eighth pairing of Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, who were both an on-screen and off-screen couple with Crawford’s then husband, Franchot Tone.

By 1936, Clark Gable was already nicknamed The King of Hollywood. Having become a leading man in 1931’s Sporting Blood, Gable would go on to star in nearly 60 films. During that time he would be teamed with several leading ladies, sometimes more than one in the same film. His co-stars included Myrna Loy in seven films, Jean Harlow in six, Lana Turner in four, Norma Shearer in three and Ava Gardner in three. But the actress he appeared the most with was Joan Crawford, eight times.

Almost from the first pairing, in Dance, Fools, Dance (1931), Crawford and Gable started an off-screen affair, even though she was married to Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Gable to Maria "Ria" Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham. While Louis B. Mayer told them to stop the affair, he was anxious to get the team back together on screen, even going so far as firing one actor from Laughing Sinners (1931), Johnny Mack Brown, so he could replace him with Gable.

Their love affair took hold again while filming their third film, Possessed (1931). There were even rumors the two stars were discussing marriage, though it never got that far. While Crawford wanted Gable for her film Letty Lynton (1932), Mayer refused, concerned that the stars’ affair would ruin her career and marriage to Fairbanks.

But audiences wanted more Crawford and Gable and Mayer let them be paired in Dancing Lady (1933). By this time the affair had cooled and Crawford, having divorced Fairbanks, was starting a relationship with her soon-to-be second husband, Franchot Tone, whom she’d met on the set of Today We Live (1932). Dancing Lady was such a big success that they were paired again in Chained (1934) and again in Forsaking All Others (1934).

Their affair was over, Crawford had married Tone in 1935 and Gable was falling in love with Carole Lombard by the time they were reunited for Love on the Run. Shot during August and September 1936, the film opens in London, where two American correspondents for rival newspapers, Michael Anthony (Clark Gable) and Barnabas “Barney” Pells (Franchot Tone), share a hotel room. They are in town to cover two stories and flip a coin to determine who will cover which of what they think are boring assignments. Mike gets the story about millionairess Sally Parker's (Joan Crawford) wedding to Prince Igor (Ivan Lebedeff), while Barney takes an interview with aviator Baron Otto Spandermann (Reginald Owen) and his wife Hilda (Mona Barrie).

Barney (Franchot Tone) and Mike (Clark Gable) are rival newspapermen sharing a hotel room.

Mike arrives at the church in time to see Sally run away, still in her wedding dress. Being the news reporter he is, Mike follows her back to her hotel, hoping for a juicy exclusive. At her hotel, he runs into the suspicious Barney, but doesn't tell him what just happened. Barney tries to rope him into the interview with the Baron about their high altitude tests, but Mike manages to sneak into Sally's hotel room. Known for her hatred of reporters, Mike pretends that he’s been an admirer of hers from a distance for years and went to the wedding for one last look. He suggests that he can help her get away from all the attention. Then the prince arrives and tries to woo Sally back to the wedding. The prince thinks that he’s seen Mike somewhere and right before he recognizes him as a reporter, Mike slugs them and he and Sally run away.

Sally (Joan Crawford) runs all the way from the church to her hotel instead of marrying Prince Igor.

Mike locks up the three B’s: the Baron, the Baroness and Barney and steals the flight suits, allowing him and Sally to leave the hotel in disguise. They are taken to the airport and put on the plane for the test flight. Even though neither knows anything about flying, they manage to get the plane off the ground and headed over the English Channel. Barney chases them to the airport, but is too late.

Mike discovers there is no oxygen aboard the plane.

In flight, Mike discovers there is no oxygen for what is supposed to be high altitude tests and Sally finds a munitions map wrapped up in a bouquet of flowers intended for the baroness. They realize that the Baron and Baroness are not aviators, but are really spies. Dressed like farmers, they manage to get to Paris on the back of a wagon with livestock and produce. Once they get to Paris, Mike gets money from his paper. Barney finds them and initially Sally pretends to be a man. Mike passes Barney off to Sally like they’re old college friends. When they are spotted by the Baron and Baroness, three of them steal a delivery van and flee into the countryside.

Sally uses the opportunity to change from her farmer duds into a sparkly formal hanging in the back.

Mike drives the stolen van with Barney and Sally.

When the van runs out of gas, they get out to walk, but Mike tricks Barney into getting into the back of the van and he locks him in. Mike convinces Sally that Barney is a lowlife reporter and would even tell her that he was a reporter, too. They take off walking and, by nightfall, arrive at the Palace of Fontainbleau and sneak in to spend the night.

The caretaker (Donald Meeks) hears them break in, when Mike breaks the glass on a door with a bottle of milk that had been delivered, but not picked up by nightfall. The caretaker is delusional, he has an imaginary dog, and thinks Sally and Mike are the ghosts of a queen and king that used to live in the palace. By midnight, Mike and Sally realize they are in love.

The caretaker (Donald Meeks) is delusional and mistakes Mike and Sally for ghosts.

Like a bad penny, Barney shows up at the Palace and for some reason decides to take a dip in a pond. While he’s in the water, the caretaker comes out and gathers up his clothes and takes them away.

The next morning, Barney breaks into the Palace and, dressed in period clothes, breaks into Sally’s bedroom. A tour of the palace finds Mike sleeping on a couch and once again the three are on the run, with Barney chasing after the caretaker to get his clothes back.

Barney, dressed in period clothes, breaks into Sally's bedroom.

Mike feels compelled to come clean with Sally and shows her a newspaper with his byline and she realizes what he has done. Unbeknownst to Mike, his editor back in New York, Berger (William Demarest), has played up the story, even starting a contest about it. Mike apologizes for lying to her and tells her he loves her, but she sends him away.

Of course, Barney finds her. Seeking revenge on Mike, she tells Barney that she will give him the greatest story of his career, and they go off to make headlines. A short time later, on a train to Nice, Sally realizes that she still loves Mike and wants to go to him, but just then the baron and baroness come into their compartment with guns and demand that Sally give them the map. They strip search Sally (off screen) but do not find the map and the Baron pushes Barney off the train. They let Sally go, counting on her leading them to the map.

Bruised and limping, Barney somehow finds Mike at a cafe in Paris and tells him that they, Baron and Baroness, have taken Sally as a prisoner. Mike convinces Barney to hand him all his money and he leaves him to settle an expensive meal bill and heads to Nice. He finds her in her hotel room and they escape just ahead of the Baron and Baroness. At the train station, the Baroness follows Sally into the ladies room and forcefully changes clothes with her. Mike doesn’t discover the switch until they are onboard the train. With the Baron holding a gun on him, Mike is forced to strip.

Sally, with help, frees herself, but the Baron is back at the train station. He takes her to a restaurant and uses lipstick and writes on the menu telling the waiter to get the police. But the two policemen who arrive believe the Baron’s story, that Sally had stolen his plane. They won’t listen to her as she tries to tell them the Baron is a spy. The police even accept the Baron’s invitation for a ride back to police headquarters. Once in the car, he kidnaps them all and takes them to his chateau where the Baroness has taken Mike.

Barney follows Mike to the chateau, where he finally thinks his rival is getting his comeuppance. But Mike convinces Barney to trade places with him and leaves him tied up. Sally, Mike and the policemen manage to capture the Baron and the Baroness. At first, Sally and Mike leave Barney tied up, but Mike has a change of heart and returns, finding Barney struggling on the floor to make a call and get his story to his editor. Under duress, Barney agrees to file a joint byline, and Sally and Mike agree that they will soon be married.

Sally and Mike share a kiss over Barney, who is tied to a chair.

The film’s plot has a lot in common with another Gable film, It Happened One Night (1934). In that film, Gable plays a newspaper man covering the wedding of an heiress, Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), who ends up on the run with the bride, who, despite learning he’s a newspaperman, falls in love with him. Add a sidekick reporter and an overwritten plot about espionage and you pretty much have the same movie. Oh yeah, there’s one more thing that It Happened One Night has that Love on the Run doesn’t; humor.

Despite everyone’s best intentions, Love On the Run just isn’t funny. If you only had this film to watch, you’d wonder what was so hot about the on-screen chemistry between Clark and Crawford that would lead to their pairing eight times. (They would be paired one more time after this film, 1940’s Strange Cargo.) And if the old adage is true that no onscreen chemistry means there is something going on off-screen, then Tone and Crawford’s marriage would have been hot and heavy about this time. She seems more bothered by his presence in the film than anything else.

Franchot Tone is best remembered for the dramatic role of Byam, for which he was nominated as Best Supporting Actor, in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), which also co-starred Gable and Charles Laughton. His marriage to Crawford, his first of four, lasted only four years, 1935 to 1939. They were paired on screen seven times, including Today We Live (1933), Dancing Lady, Sadie McKee (1934), No More Ladies (1935), The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), Love on the Run and The Bride Wore Red (1937). In Love on the Run, Tone comes across as more hammy than funny.

Franchot Tone

I didn’t find Tone’s Barney to be a believable news reporter, even for what’s billed as a comedy. He is supposed to be a rival news hound to Mike, as well as a rival love interest for Sally, but his character fails miserably at both. Barney all too easily falls for Mike’s schemes throughout the film, losing bylines, money and his dignity. After a while he comes off as Mike’s punching bag and not as a real or believable character. It’s hard to imagine someone so naïve and gullible could make it to be a foreign correspondent.

Mike, on the other hand, is a clever, fast-talking scoundrel, the way successful newspaper reporters are often depicted in the 1930’s. His character seems like it would have been right at home in the screwball comedy newsroom of His Girl Friday (1940) and other such comedies. Still, while he has the right characteristics, the funny isn’t there.

Crawford, who is still very pretty at this stage of her career, was very popular when this film was released. While Life magazine would declare her the Queen of the Movies in 1937, her popularity would quickly fade. The Bride Wore Black, her last film with Tone, would be one of MGM’s biggest failures at the box office and by May 1938, Crawford would be placed in some very famous company by the Independent Film Journal, who called her box office poison. (She’s on a list with the likes of Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Norma Shearer and Marlene Dietrich). While her career at MGM would end in 1943, when her contract was terminated by mutual consent, she would sign a contract with Warner Bros. only a couple of years later and would regain her star status with films like Mildred Pierce (1945).

Joan Crawford, the Queen of the Movies.

While Crawford’s career at MGM had peaked by the time this film was released, Gable’s was still on the rise. He would go onto to star in what is still, adjusted for inflation, the biggest film of all time, Gone With the Wind (1939). That film was bigger than Gable, being based on a huge best seller, not to mention the publicity build up, but it wouldn’t have been the same film if the King of Hollywood wasn’t Rhett Butler. Taking off time to serve during World War II, Gable would appear less frequently in films through the 40’s and 50’s. He became increasingly displeased with the mediocre films he was being offered and MGM considered his salary excessive. He was fired by the studio in 1951. His last film was The Misfits (1961) opposite Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift.

Clark Gable, the King of Hollywood.

Donald Meeks’ eccentric night watchman comes off as more crazy than funny, with his invisible dog companion. His big scene with Crawford and Gable seems to summarize what I think is wrong with the film. In the scene, the three dance a minuet but it looks more labored than funny. It is clear that Gable is not a dancer or light on his feet and when Meeks and Crawford accidentally bump into each other more than once, it comes across as awkward fumbling for laughs. The director was known for letting his actors ad-lib, so I wonder if perhaps the blame for this can be passed around.

Director W. S. Van Dyke got his start in 1916 as an assistant director for D.W. Griffith on Intolerance. Known as One-Take Woody and as One-Take Van Dyke for his speed in completion of his assignments, he was a major director for early M-G-M. He directed several memorable movies, including Tarzan The Ape Man (1932), Manhattan Melodrama (1934), San Francisco (1936) and four of the Thin Man movies with Myrna Loy and William Powell, The Thin Man (1934), After the Thin Man (1936), Another Thin Man (1939) and Shadow of the Thin Man (1941). He would commit suicide in 1943.

Having heard a lot about the onscreen pairings of Gable and Crawford, I found Love On the Run to be a disappointment. While the film had been profitable for MGM when it was released, it doesn’t appear to have aged well. Even though I haven’t seen it, I have to imagine Dancing Lady would be a better film with which to start a retrospective of the Gable/Crawford pairing. Love on the Run is strictly for devoted fans only.

Stubs - Satan Met A Lady

Satan Met A Lady (1936). Starring: Bette Davis, Warren William, Alison Skipworth, Arthur Treacher, Winifred Shaw, Marie Wilson, Porter Hall, Olin Howland, Charles C. Wilson. Directed by William Dieterle, Screenplay by Brown Holmes. Based on The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Produced by Henry Blanke. Run time: 74 minutes. USA. Detective, Comedy, Drama.

Everyone knows that Hollywood likes to remake properties they already own, even if they may have already made the definitive version of the story; that’s how we get gems like The Amazing Spider-Man and the HBO mini-series Mildred Pierce. And sometimes it takes Hollywood more than one try to get the story right. In the case of Dashiell Hammett’s Maltese Falcon, it took three.

We’re all very familiar, or at least we should be, with the 1941 classic starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor, but what about the earlier versions? Well, as if to prep for the recent theatrical showing of the classic, we watched one of the two prior versions: Satan Met A Lady (1936).

The 1931 version, starring Bebe Daniels and Ricardo Cortez, is the closest of the three to the original text. And while the 1941 version is somewhat sanitized by the production code, losing some of the sexuality of the 1931 feature, both straight and homosexual, it is a darker film, some would say even film noir. Both use dialogue directly lifted from Hammett’s novel. The 1936 film neither sticks too closely to the original book, nor is serious about the material.

Warner Bros., having only a few years before released one version of the film, decided to make another. They handed the job of writing the screenplay to contract writer Brown Holmes, who had helped with the original adaptation. The guidelines they’d given him must have been to make it like the novel, but different, since that’s pretty much what he did.

This time around, Holmes was fast and loose with practically everything from the character names to the sexes of characters to even the object of desire. This time, rather than a jewel-encrusted black statue of a bird, it’s a jewel-filled ram’s horn.

The real issue isn’t the changes, but if they work. The first indication may have been Bette Davis, who was cast in the female lead. In her autobiography, A Lonely Life, Davis, who had just completed The Petrified Forest (1930), described her reaction to being cast in the film this way, “I was so distressed by the whole tone of the script and the vapidity of my part that I marched up to Mr. Warner's office and demanded that I be given work that was commensurate with my proven ability.” When the film went into production on December 1, 1935, Davis was a no-show.

Suspended on December 3, Davis would return to the set in a few days; money needs winning out over anger and resentment. She could always hope Jack Warner would make good on his word: "I was promised wonderful things if only I would do this film."

The film opens with private detective Ted Shane (Warren William) being escorted out of town by city officials. We’re never told where or where he’s headed, but town officials only care that he’s leaving on the next train.

While he’s on board, he makes the acquaintance of wealthy Mrs. R. Manchester (May Beatty), whom he convinces needs a bodyguard. She agrees and he offers up the services of The Ames Detective Agency, which happens to be where he’s headed. On the train, Valerie Purvis (Bette Davis) can be seen in the next seat overhearing them.

After being kicked out of town, Ted Shane (Warren William) finds a new client
in wealthy Mrs. R. Manchester (May Beatty) while Valerie Purvis (Bette Davis) watches.

The Agency is run by his former partner, Milton Ames (Porter Hall), who also happens to have married Shane’s old love interest, Astrid (Winifred Shaw). Just to prove how much Astrid has gotten over him, Milton invites Shane over for dinner. Things are a little tight, but Shane’s promise of a new paying client is enough to keep the agency afloat and to keep Ames’ secretary, Miss Murgatroyd (Marie Wilson), a cute, but typically ditzy blonde, from quitting. Shane takes notice of Miss Murgatroyd and makes a vague offer about having fun. Shane will pretty much hit on anything with a skirt.

Marie Wilson plays Miss Murgatroyd, the quintessential dumb blonde secretary.

Ames takes Shane home, but Astrid has not forgotten Shane and with Ames needing to follow Mrs. Manchester, he is understandably uneasy about leaving the two of them alone.

Milton Ames (Porter Hall) isn't happy to be leaving his wife alone with Shane, her old boyfriend.

Soon after, Valerie Purvis comes to the firm and hires the agency to find a man she claims has jilted her. The men agree to take her case, convinced by the monetary advance, and Ames is assigned to follow her when she meets with a man, Farrow, who can take her to him. After they meet, Ames follows the pair, unaware that he, too, is being tailed.

Shane rides with Valerie as she goes from the hotel to her new apartment.

Ames is found in a cemetery, shot dead. While the police are investigating that crime, Farrow is also shot dead. Initially, Shane is the primary suspect. He finds Valerie hastily checking out of her hotel and accompanies her to an apartment. When he demands the true story from her, she forces him out at the point of a gun.

Rather than telling Shane her true story, Valerie forces him out of her apartment at gun point.

Meanwhile, Shane’s apartment is being searched and when he comes home, Shane finds all his upholstery ripped and things broken. When he goes to the office, he finds the same treatment and discovers Miss Murgatroyd locked in the closet.

This turns out to be the work of Anthony Travers (Arthur Treacher), who confesses to Shane what he’s done. He tells him that he’s on the trail of Roland’s trumpet, an instrument it is rumored, is filled with jewels; an ancient tribute that has fallen into the wrong hands. When Shane suspects that Valerie is also looking for the horn, she denies the accusation.

Shane is summoned by Madame Barabas (Alison Skipworth) by her gunsell, Kenneth (Maynard Holmes). Barabas is a notorious gangster, whom Shane seems familiar with. She tells him that she is also looking for the horn. When Shane takes money from her, he has taken money from all the major suspects. When the Detective Dunhill (Olin Howland) and Detective Pollock (Charles Wilson) come to his office, Miss Murgatroyd takes a message for Shane. He’s instructed to visit a recently docked ship, the Fujiyama. He leaves the detectives in his office and goes to the docks.

Kenneth (Maynard Holmes) works as a gunsell for Madame Barabas, a notorious gangster.

When he arrives, he finds the ship on fire. Shane is not alone, as Barabas, Kenneth, Travers and Valerie are already there watching. A shipmate rows from the burning boat carrying a duffel bag. When Shane approaches them, both are apparently shot dead by Kenneth. Leaving Barabas in the car, the other three go to investigate, but they find the duffel bag does not contain Roland’s horn.

Even though Kenneth has taken credit for the kill, Shane is not dead and he has the package with the horn in it. Barabas, herself, goes after him, but Shane manages to take her gun away. When the others surround him, Shane offers the horn to the highest bidder. However, when it is opened, the horn is full of sand.

Shane offers the horn to the highest bidders, including left to right,
 Anthony Travers (Arthur Treacher), Valerie and Madame Barabas (Alison Skipworth) 

The two detectives, who have followed Shane to the docks, arrest the criminals, with the exception of Valerie, whom Shane escapes with. On board an outbound train, Shane tries to get Valerie to confess to killing Ames. When the train is stopped and searched at the next station, Valerie manages to have a washroom attendant turn her in, keeping him from the $10,000 reward, as a sort of personal victory over Shane.

On the train, Shane tries to get Valerie to confess to killing Ames.

But after Valerie is led away, Miss Murgatroyd pops out of the next car into Shane’s arms and the two leave together to have some fun.

While The Maltese Falcon (1941) plays it fairly straight, Satan Met a Lady plays it very tongue in cheek. It always looks to me like Warren William is trying not to laugh. The light-heartedness also seems to be a costume choice. The hat William’s Shane character wears seems like it would be more appropriate in a Western than in a crime film. His skirt-chasing is relentless and overt to the point that it is almost too much to take. How could anyone know where they stand with him?

Warren William plays Shane for laughs rather than drama.

William is not a bad actor, per se, but there is really no one that shines in this film. Davis was right to have protested her being cast in this film. Her Valerie is a waste of her talents. When you’re watching, you don’t feel like your discovering a hidden gem from her career, but rather a rock she didn’t want to have turned over.

Marie Wilson has a certain charm. She’s cute and vivacious, but there is only so much stupid you can take. She rarely seems to know if she’s coming or going, let alone how to spell her own name. I’m repeating myself when I say that I’ve read her performance in this film is viewed by some as a template for Marilyn Monroe, somehow it isn’t the same.

Some people think Marie Wilson provided a template for Marilyn Monroe.

Many of the other actors are certainly not household names. The idea to recast Mr. Gutman as a woman is fine, but like most of the roles, the part seems very scattered. Alison Skipworth, who played Madame Barabas, had been acting for years prior to this film, both on stage in her native England and in films in the U.S. If you’re a fan of W.C. Fields, you might recognize her as his foil in four films: If I Had a Million (1932), Tillie and Gus (1933), Alice in Wonderland (1933), and Six of a Kind (1934).

Arthur Treacher was another English actor, who often played a butler. His film career began in the 1930s and he appeared opposite Shirley Temple in Curly Top (1935), Stowaway (1936), Heidi (1937) and The Little Princess (1939). His part here as Anthony Travers again seems ill-defined.

Porter Hall had a long career as a character actor. Even though his Ames gets killed off quite early, Hall would make more memorable appearances in such films as The Thin Man (1934), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Going My Way (1944), and Double Indemnity (1944).

When it was released on July 22, 1936, the film was not well received. Critics like Bosley Crowther of the New York Times referred to it as “a cynical farce of elaborate and sustained cheapness." A Variety review of the time summed Satan Met a Lady as "an inferior remake of [1931's] The Maltese Falcon.... Many changes have been made in story structure as well as title, but none is an improvement." Not rosy reviews to say the least.

Pretty much everything about Satan Met a Lady seems to be a letdown after having seen The Maltese Falcon that would be made five years later. Better script, better direction and better acting are why that film is remembered as a classic, while Satan Met a Lady is best overlooked.

Satan Met a Lady is available at the Warner Archive Collection:

Stubs – The Plot Thickens

The Plot Thickens (1936) Starring: James Gleason, ZaSu Pitts, Owens Davis Jr. Directed by Ben Holmes. Screenplay by Jack Townley, Clarence Upson Young. Based on the short story The Riddle of the Dangling Pearl by Stuart Palmer (Mystery, Nov. 1933). Produced by Samuel J. Briskin (Executive), William Sistrom (Associate). Run time: 69 minutes. US. Black and White. Mystery, Drama, Comedy

It seems Hollywood has always liked sequels. If The Thin Man was good, why not five more films with the same actors and the same basic frame work. Except, back in the heyday of studios they didn’t call them sequels so much as a film series. They weren’t called franchises, probably because studios made so many films that they weren’t dependent on one big film to carry the day as much as they are now.

But then as now Hollywood is always on the lookout for the source for a series of films. As with sequels today, they can develop a built-in audience that comes because they know what to expect. Sometimes there is a popular book or books that propels the series forward. In the 1930s one such series was made based on the characters developed by Stuart Palmer.

Author Stuart Palmer.

A former taxi driver and newspaper reporter, Palmer turned to writing fiction in 1932 with the mystery, The Penguin Pool Murder. His main character was a spinster school teacher named Hildegarde Withers, who also happened to be an amateur sleuth. Miss Withers was apparently based on Miss Fern Hakett, Palmer’s high school teacher.

RKO studios made a film version of Palmer’s book in 1932 starring Edna May Oliver. Her co-star James Gleason played Inspector Oscar Piper. While leading ladies came and went, Gleason would continue to play Inspector Piper in five more films. Twice more with Oliver, Murder on the Blackboard (1934), Murder on a Honeymoon (1935), once opposite Helen Broderick, Murder on the Bridle Path (1936) and twice opposite ZaSu Pitts: The Plot Thickens (1936) and Forty Naughty Girls (1937).

The Plot Thickens was only in production for a few weeks from mid September to early October 1936 and was released on December 11, 1936.

Pitts and Gleason’s first pairing, The Plot Thickens, starts late at night at the estate of John Carter (Richard Tucker). Two of Carter’s household employees are going out on a date, but Carter, who had promised them the roadster, commandeers it for himself. He tells them to take his sedan instead, but before they can take it, another household member, Joe (Paul Fix), the chauffer, takes it and follows the roadster.

While he’s out driving, Carter spies Alice Stevens (Louise Latimer) looking abandoned by the side of the road. He stops to offer her a lift when he is accosted by her boyfriend Robert Wilkins (Owen Davis, Jr.), who tries to stop her from going with Carter. Defending himself, Carter punches Wilkins, who is about to retaliate when a policeman who has witnessed the encounter steps forward. He plans to take Wilkins into custody, but Carter intercedes. Instead the policeman walks Wilkins back to his car, while Carter and the girl drive off. Even though the policeman tells Wilkins to go home, Wilkins promises revenge on Carter.

Later, when Carter puts the moves on Alice, she gets out of the car. While she is only a few feet away, Carter is shot and killed by an unknown assailant. Alice flees, looking for a phone to call the police. A gas station attendant (Billy Dooley) offers to let her use his phone, but before she can call the police, Wilkins, who has been following her, shows up. She tells him what happened and they return to the scene of the crime.

Trying to protect her, Wilkins sends her away in his car while he takes care of Carter’s body. Of course, the right thing would be to call the police, but that wouldn’t be thick enough for this plot. Adding flour to the gravy, Wilkins drives Carter’s car back to his estate.

But the next morning, Kendall (Arthur Aylesworth) finds Carter’s dead body in his study. He calls the police and inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason) is assigned to the case. When you get Piper you also get Hildegarde Withers (ZaSu Pitts), a schoolteacher and clever amateur sleuth. Since first appearing in films, the character’s relationship had heated up. When Edna May Oliver played Hildegarde, she and Piper were careful not to touch. Now, Piper and Hildegarde are considered to be dating.

If Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason) is on the case,
amateur sleuth Hildegard Withers (ZaSu Pitts) is not far behind.

Oscar's first suspect is pretty Alice who was with Carter seconds before he was murdered, and her boyfriend, Wilkins whose jealous tirade against Carter had been witnessed. While inspecting Carter's house, however, Hildegarde discovers a mysterious jewel case containing a large emerald and learns from a jeweler that the gem is the famous Sultan emerald, which had been stolen years before from the Louvre. Her inquisitiveness nearly gets her arrested when the jeweler calls the police.

Under pressure from Oscar, Robert admits that, to protect Alice, he had returned Carter's corpse to his garage but not to the study. Back in his office, Hildegarde tells Oscar about the jewel and the two return to Carter's estate to question Joe, but Joe has fled. While Oscar tries to get to the bottom of Joe’s disappearance, Hildegarde goes through Carter’s study, looking at photographs of a decorative cup. With her back turned, Hildegarde is knocked out by a masked thief, who steals a cup from Carter’s safe that resembles the one in the photographs.

Hildegarde determines that the cup is the valuable Cellini Cup, which is housed in the city's Cosmopolitan Museum. At the museum, we see street kids running around making mischief and noise and a sculptress, Dagmar (Agnes Anderson), attempting to copy a museum piece. Hildegarde talks with Mr. Gordon (John Miltern), a guard very knowledgeable about the Cellini Cup. He shows Hildegarde that a dangling pearl in the cup vibrates to the clock chimes. But shortly after they talk, Gordon is murdered by being thrown down the steps. In the confusion, the cup is stolen, but the exits are locked and everyone is trapped inside. Dagmar is found unconscious and the police search in vain for a man wearing a derby. After an exhaustive search of the museum, the cup is found quite easily in the cloak room, wrapped as a package being held. But Hildegarde notices that its dangling pearl doesn’t vibrate; it’s a fake.

The police funnel everyone in the museum out through a single door and search them on their way out. Oscar notices one of the boys taking great interest and then running back into the museum to warn his accomplice, who happens to be Dagmar, of the search. The boy turns out to be a midget (John T. Bambury) in disguise, sort of a la Mission: Impossible. The Cellini cup is found in the base of Dagmar’s sculpture. Oscar and Hildegarde deduce that a gang of thieves connected killed Gordon (the only expert on the cup) and tried to plant a fake in its place.

With all the suspects lined up in Oscar’s office, the inspector, in the tradition of cozy mysteries, goes down the line, telling why each one has a reason to be a suspect. Joe snaps, stealing a policeman’s gun. But it’s full of blanks and he’s arrested for Carter’s murder.

It is the pairing of Gleason and Pitts that carries the film. Both are talented actors who possess great comedic timing. They make for a cute onscreen couple and the chemistry plays into the relationship between amateur sleuth and her policeman partner.

The pairing of James Gleason and ZaSu Pitts makes The Plot Thickens worth watching.

While I best remember Gleason as a bit actor, playing the parts like Sylvester the cab driver in The Bishop’s Wife (1947), there really was a lot more to the man. Like practically every film actor, he got his start on stage. He was also a writer of plays and for our purposes, dialogue for comedies. As an example, along with Norman Houston, Gleason is credited with writing The Broadway Melody (1929), the second film and first sound film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. And this was at the beginning of his career. He also made his first movie appearance in The Broadway Melody in an uncredited role.

In 1931, Gleason and Robert Armstrong, Carl Denham from King Kong (1933), starred in a radio sitcom, Knights of the Road. The syndicated series, sponsored by Union Oil, ran for 103 episodes which were each fifteen minutes long, including commercials. While I have never heard an episode, the series revolved around two men, oddly enough named Jimmy Gleason and Robbie Armstrong, who have a dream of opening a gasoline station on land they plan to buy from Robbie’s girlfriend’s father. Their plan is to tour the U.S. for one year, observing how other filling stations are run so they can make theirs the best.

Gleason would appear in Change of Heart (1934), which he also wrote; Meet John Doe (1941); Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), A Guy Named Joe (1943); Arsenic and Old Lace (1944); The Bishop’s Wife; Suddenly (1954) and The Night of the Hunter (1955) to name a few. He was nominated Best Supporting Actor for his role as Max Corkle in Here Comes Mr. Jordan, which he later reprised in the musical sequel Down To Earth (1947).

ZaSu Pitts’ career goes back even farther. She got her first break in films playing in The Little Princess (1917) starring Mary Pickford. She appeared in a series of one-reel comedies for Universal starting in 1919, which led to a rise in her popularity. Her first full length lead was in King Vidor’s Better Times (1919).

Known as a comedic actress, Pitts was cast in 1924 to appear in Erich von Stroheim’s adaptation of Frank Norris’ 1889 novel, McTeague. Called Greed, the original film is both celebrated and notorious for being a 9 and a half hour long, line for line adaptation of the book. Hailed by many, seen by few, Greed is often touted as one of the greatest films ever made. Pitts played Trina Sieppe, McTeague’s wife.

ZaSu Pitts as she appeared in Greed (1924)

Declaring the comedienne “the greatest dramatic actress”, von Stroheim would cast her in The Honeymoon (1928), The Wedding March (1928), War Nurse (1930) and Walking Down Broadway, released as Hello, Sister! (1933). Pitts would also show off her dramatic skills in Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).

She would also continue to make comedies: Finn and Hattie (1931), The Guardsman (1931), Blondie of the Follies (1932), Sing and Like It (1934) and Ruggles of Red Gap (1935). She would also appear in Life with Father (1947), the film adaptation of the long running Broadway play. Her last film was It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, playing Gertie the switchboard operator.

My first attraction to the film was the title, which, as it turns out, nails it. The plot is as thick as gravy. It is saved by the fairly brisk pace. This is a lighthearted approach to the murder mystery and there are some funny moments. One of the more memorable ones revolves around the search for the man wearing a bowler whom Dagmar claims knocked her out. The bowler the police find and are trying to match, unbeknownst to them, belongs to Oscar. Having not read Palmer’s short story, I don’t know if these are touches from his pen or from Jack Townley and Clarence Upson Young, who wrote the screenplay.

This is not a movie to take too seriously. This was meant as a comedic diversion rather than a heart-pounding mystery/thriller. The Plot Thickens follows the standards for what is termed a cozy mystery the established routine of a crime victim, suspects, clues, questioning, locked rooms, alibis and so on, throwing in comedy without being an outright spoof of the genre like The Cheap Detective (1978) or as over-the-top as say Clue (1985).

The Plot Thickens is a B-picture all the way and one that is worth watching, especially if you’re in the mood for a comedic cozy mystery.