The Detectress

Gale Henry directs and stars in this amusing tale of an incompetent female detective set in "Chinatown" in 1918; a member of the local Tong has stolen a formula for glasses that will enable people to see what's in chop suey, and she is charged with recovering the plans. What results is sequence of puns and chases that won't strain anyone's mind, but will keep you smiling throughout.

The humor and the characters in "The Detectress" are a bit too over-the-top to work as well as they could have, but it does have some good moments, and its obviously good-natured style keeps it watchable. Gale Henry is a talented comedienne, although her style would be more effective with a little more subtlety.

Henry stars as an aspiring detective who suddenly gets involved in a real case. The scenario is far-fetched from the beginning, so the real focus is more on the slapstick than on the plot itself. In some respects, that's not so bad, and in particular, some of the characters might be somewhat grating or embarrassing if it weren't so evident that nothing is meant to be taken seriously. There are a few good gag ideas, but some of them do not come off as well as they could have, because they are played too broadly. Overall, it's probably of average quality.