The Great Hospital Mystery

In the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood must have made at least 16,302,380 B-murder mystery films. The formula was pretty much constant....with a stupid cop (or cops) and an amateur who actually helps them solve the mystery. However, while "The Great Hospital Mystery" generally follows this exact pattern, it's very different when it comes to who solves the crime. In this case, Jane Darwell plays the smarty pants...and it's rare to see a woman in this role, let alone a middle-aged female nurse!

There is a strange mystery at the hospital. A man was found dead in his bed in the hospital...and he was shot. But it gets much weirder. Later it turns out he already was dead...and he's not who he's supposed to be. In addition, the head of the hospital is an enigma--he's either completely incompetent or completely evil...or both. What is the dead man all about? Wait...the head nurse will eventually figure it out for us!

I liked Darwell. Her character was pretty neat...and it was nice seeing a competent and intelligent woman in an older film. Sadly, Joan Davis was NOT pretty neat...she was there for comic relief (part of the mystery movie formula) but her acting was simply annoying and over-the-top. She could be funny...here she was just bothersome. As for the rest, there were no problems and Sig Ruman was nice as the awful chief of staff. Not a brilliant film but worth seeing if you like the genre.

When a patient makes a phone call after he's been dead for six hours, with a bullet hole, detective Wade Boteller comes calling. He finds pompous chief of staff Sig Ruman, efficient Jane Darwell, pretty Sally Blane, frenetic Joan Davis, a couple of doctors and William Demarest suffering from appendicitis.

Although director James Tingling directs this Fox B movies for speed, it turns out pretty good with a nice assortment of clues. That's because it's from a Mignon Eberhart story. Surprisingly for a B, it was adapted by Bess Meredyth. She had entered the movies as a writer for D.W. Griffith, and basically produced a good chunk of BEN-HUR. When Zanuck started 20th Century, she wrote for him, and came over when that company merged with Fox. While Zanuck worked on getting the company's script department in shape -- long a weakness for Fox -- she did uncredited work on scripts and had her name on several B productions, including this one. She would return to the A-list in 1939, with a Shirley Temple movie, then THE MARK OF ZORRO and the funny THAT NIGHT IN RIO, then ease off, with one more credited movie.

The character actors don't really work well in the context of the move; each is busy doing his or her shtick. But what fun that is!

Comedy and Mystery were often mixed in the 30's and this is a fine example.

The story is about a young man on parole. A bunch of bank robbers use him and his car to get away. Being on parole, he doesn't want to inform the police. He seeks shelter in the hospital were his sister is working as a nurse. But the gangsters are on to him...

The true sleuth in this movie is head nurse Sarah Keats, played by Jane Darwell. Her role, gestures and acting do remind one of Margareth Rutherford playing Miss Marple. Wade Botteler embodies the stereotype stupid policeman. Sally Blane as the nurse and Thomas Beck as doctor McKerry are a nice couple in love. Sig Ruman is convincing as the head of the hospital. Joan Davis is thrown in to cause laughter, even though she is overacting terribly.

I found this movie on the internet. I am quite certain there are no more rights on this movie, so you could try a search. However it is quite likely available on a cheap DVD carrying oldies as well. And usually these are of better quality.

A very enjoyable movie. The pace is high and there is plenty to laugh, with a few nice one liners by Jane Darwell. 7 out of 10: enjoy!