We're on the Jury (1937)
** (out of 4)
Remake of the 1932 film LADIES OF THE JURY finds yet another pretty young woman accused of murdering her rich, much older husband. In the jury room eleven people believe she's guilty but Mrs. Agnes Dean (Helen Broderick) believes she's innocent and goes to change the others. Whereas LADIES OF THE JURY took a rather over-the-top scenario and did something special with it, this film here pretty much loses all of the charm. laughs and drama. There's really nothing worthwhile in this film unless you've seen the original and just want to see what they changed, altered or how the characters here were changed from the previous film. I think, on this level, the film kept me entertained from start to finish but there just wasn't any worthwhile laughs. Broderick takes over the role of Edna May Oliver but she doesn't have the charisma, charm or comic level to do much with the role. She comes off a lot more annoying than anything else here and the actress never appears overly comfortable in the role. Victor Moore plays the side kick who gets a lot of the scenes that Oliver handled in the original. He is mildly entertaining but the screenplay does nothing in his favor. Robert McWade plays the judge here, which is the same role he had in the original. Hal Roach vet Billy Gilbert is wasted as he's usually just seen smiling at things other people are doing. Charles Lane can't add much either. Everything that worked with the original is pretty much missing here and this of course includes the wonderful supporting players. Also missing is the mystery surrounding the actual case as it has very little to do with the plot here. This film runs seven-minutes longer than the original but it's pretty much just seven additional minutes of dead air.
