Last Wednesday, TCM aired several movies about amateur detectives. I could have stayed in and happily watched all day (but didn't.) I watched parts of some, recorded others.
Murder on the Bridle Path: This is one of the Hildegarde Withers series. Hildegarde is a schoolteacher who assists Police Inspector Oscar Piper. Helen Broderick played Hildegarde here. Edna May Oliver was the original Hildegarde; Zasu Pitts took over the role for the last two films. I liked Broderick; Oliver seems like more of the stereotypical schoolmarm. James Gleason plays the gruff police inspector to perfection in all six films.
Haunted Honeymoon: As far as I know, this is the only film adaptation of a Lord Peter Wimsey novel. My sister turned me on to the books--I don't remember the details of Busman's Honeymoon--I should reread it. Robert Montgomery as Lord Peter is the biggest problem for me. For starters, he's not British (and didn't bother to even try to appear British.) Plus I just don't like Montgomery. The movie spent too long on the romantic elements of the story instead of the mystery elements.
Murder at the Gallop: This is one of four Miss Marple movies starring Margaret Rutherford. While not as madcap as the Nancy Drew series, they are more lighthearted than the Agatha Christie originals. Like the Nancy Drew films, I could watch these over and over again. And I do.
Eyes in the Night: I enjoy this movie (wrote about it here) and wish it had been the beginning of a series. Edward Arnold is great as the blind private detective as is his dog Friday.
Back in Circulation: Technically this film centers on a reporter who detects (Joan Blondell) and not a private detective--a kind of poor woman's Torchy Blane. The plot is absurd--all it takes is an anonymous letter to an out-of-town newspaper to stop a funeral and get an autopsy. But Blondell shines as the reporter who has second thoughts after her stories help get an innocent woman convicted of murder. Blondell is supported by Margaret Lindsay and John Litel. Pat O'Brien is the most obnoxious, unromantic romantic lead ever. Blondell's character deserved much better.
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