Miss Pinkerton

Miss Pinkerton (1932)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Nurse Adams (Joan Blondell) is growing tired and the same events happening everyday at the hospital but she gets her chance for excitement when Inspector Patten (George Brent) asks her to help with a suicide case. The nurse is brought on to care for an elderly woman who found her nephew's body after he killed himself but Patten believes it was actually murder. MISS PINKERTON, a nickname given to the nurse, is a fairly entertaining murder-mystery and just like the countless others that were released in this era. If you've seen its remake, THE NURSE'S SECRET, then you'll realize that it followed this one pretty closely but there's no question that this here is the better of the two. The main reason this one works so well is because Blondell is just so charming in her role. She manages to bring some light humor when it's needed but she can also handle the drama without a problem. Another major plus is that she's given a pre-code sequence where she's changing. Of course, by today's standards this is pretty tame but fans of the genre should at least get a smile out of it. Brent isn't all that memorable in his part as he sleepwalks through it. John Wray is fun as Hugo, a butler who is a prime suspect. Director Lloyd Bacon actually adds a little style to the picture including a very good scene where a person dies and we get a POV shot as she slips away. There are several attack sequences throughout the film and these too are well directed and staged. With that said, the 66-minute running time does drag in spots and there's no question that a bit of a stronger story would have been nice. Still, fans of the genre and Blondell should be entertained.

Another classic mystery that I watched right after I finished reading the book it was based on, so this review will be more about the comparison of the two and not another one about the story and the actors (that others has done a great job of already).

This one was probably the most faitful of these lesser known mysteries that I watched after reading the books: basically there are only two significant changes and none of those is directly related to the story itself. One of them is right in the beginning: here our heroine is a bored and somewhat ill-tempered hospital nurse who, out-of-the blue, is called to help a police investigation, while in the book she is a professional private nurse who has already worked with the police several times before (actually Miss Pinkerton was Rinehart's second book about the Ms Adams character... published 18 years after the first one, 1914's The Buckled Bag). And the second one is the quite suddenly erupting romance between her and the police detective. This part is completely missing from the book and there it is only hinted at the very end that the detective likes Ms Adams quite one bit.

But other than these minor changes (that does not really add or take anything) the story follows the book rather faithfully... which could be a god thing, but actually it turns out to be the film's only shortcoming. The book itself is a charming little one, well written, featuring loveble characters, but honestly, its story is not its strongest part. It was written in a time when mystery writers already struggled to come up with new twists and ideas and in this case it resulted is an overcomplicated story about a race after an old lady's heritage. The character's motives are not really clear even in the book and when the story is squeezed into the film's hour long running time, it becomes even more messy. The book spent some time introducing everyone, while here, besides the leads, hardly anyone has enough screentime to realy explore the charachters.

But even with its shortcomings, the movie is an entertaining little quicky, Blondell, while seems miscast at first, eventually does a good job and C. Henry Gordon is also a delight to watch. Switch your brains off, do not try to follow the story, just go along with the flow and you will be in for an hour worth of fun.

Joan Blondell is nicknamed "Miss Pinkerton" in this 1932 film also starring George Brent and Ruth Hall. She's nicknamed Miss Pinkerton by Brent when she attempts to help solve a murder. She's actually Nurse Adams, bored with her hospital job. She's offered a chance to take care of an elderly lady who has gone into shock after finding someone dead in her house from an apparent suicide. Nurse Adams is supposed to keep an eye on things. She's thrilled.

Miss Pinkerton doesn't believe the suicide - she thinks it was murder. The house gives her plenty of ammunition to believe it. It's an old, dark with a mean-looking maid, a scary butler, the frightened patient, and the doctor who doesn't seem too stable either.

A young girl shows up (Hall). She was married to the murder victim but in love with someone else. This someone is Elliot (Donald Dillaway) who has been caught sneaking around the house. There is also a stenographer (Mary Doran). Then there is a second murder.

George Brent is the investigating detective, and he's young and unmustached here. Normally he played opposite a major leading lady. He's charming here.

Fast-moving mystery with the delightful Blondell keeping things lively. Some interesting camera work, including a gigantic shadow of a man over the house. Lots of screaming, too, as befits this kind of movie.

This is an early entry in the comic/romantic mystery genre. Joan Blondell is bemoaning the boring existence of a hospital nurse when wham! She is commandeered by detective George Brent to help solve a murder case. It is he who, at her request gives her a title. The title is Miss Pinkerton.

It's an old mansion with creepy servants and the whole deal. A young man has died. Suicide, it's thought; but we know better. The plot is a trifle complicated but not too far-fetched. And Blondell is as (almost) always a real joy.

Brent is in it blessedly little and the supporting players all do what the need to do.

...specifically between Joan Blondell and George Brent. These are two players whose performances and films I generally enjoy immensely, but here the two just seem to be acting at each other rather than with each other. It's hard to describe unless you actually see it.

Blondell plays a nurse in a hospital - Nurse Adams - who is bored with hospital routine. One night she gets picked by the head nurse to be private nurse for the night to an old woman who has had a terrible shock - the old woman found the body of her nephew shortly after he had been shot with his own gun. Was it suicide? Was it murder? If it was murder, what was the motive? These are the questions surrounding the mystery of the unnatural death of Herbert Wynn. There is also the complication of Herbert Wynn's life being insured for one hundred thousand dollars payable to his aunt, and that his family - once wealthy - is now on the verge of bankruptcy and ruin. So, there is just as much a motive for making the suicide look accidental - or like a murder - as there is reason for making any murder that has occurred look like a suicide or accident. Life insurance doesn't pay out for suicide.

Enter George Brent, a police detective on the case that takes an immediate liking to Nurse Adams and dubs her "Miss Pinkerton". I could never really figure that one out, unless it has something to do with the famous Scottish detective whose name is often a pseudonym for detective. This is really an old dark house tale mixed in with elements of the Thin Man. From the old dark house side of things we have a creepy mansion with creepier inhabitants and mysterious locked rooms. From the Thin Man tradition of mysteries - which actually wasn't made for two years after this film - we have everybody shooting darting and knowing glances at everyone else and looking guilty and somewhat conspiratorial.

The rather complex plot will keep you interested, but you'll likely be disappointed with the romance and partnership end of things between Blondell and Brent. They were both capable of having tremendous chemistry with other leading ladies and men, just not with each other and certainly not in this film. Recommended, but with reservations.