While the Patient Slept

When is a Nurse Keating film not a Nurse Keating film? When it's a Hildegarde Withers film. If you liked this one, you'll love the first four of the Hildegarde flicks from RKO. 'While the Patient Slept' is taken from the first Hildegarde story, 'Penguin Pool Murder'. Penguin Pool's plot is different (except for being a humorous murder mystery, but the main characters are the same, and while penguins are the trademark of author Stuart Palmer, here they've substituted a green elephant.

I now have a copy of this movie, and that completes both my Nurse Keate and Hildegarde Withers collections. Speaking of rip-offs, if you like the 'Thin Man' Series, try "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford" and "Star Of Midnight," both with William Powell, Bradford with Jean Arthur and Midnight with Ginger Rogers. RKO got Powell on a loan-out and took full advantage of it.

I didn't know anything about this film and couldn't find any reviews anywhere but the one comment here so I went ahead and took a chance and recorded it. I am SO glad I did. It's a great little mystery. I had NO idea who the murderer was and was suprised at the end of the film. Why don't they make these kind of movies anymore? Also, the acting was very good. Aline McMahon and Guy Kibbee were great together!

Another little programmer from Warner Bros., complete with authentic old dark house ingredients--lots of atmospheric rain, thunder and lightning to tell a tale of a household full of jealous inhabitants, one of whom (the least likely, of course) is a murderer.

Aline McMahon does nicely as a proper nurse engaged to take care of an ill old man and soon finding herself deeply involved in solving the mystery. Guy Kibbe plays another one of his gruff but lovable detectives with dull-witted Allen Jenkins as his not too helpful sidekick.

Ray Enright was an old hand at directing these sort of things, a dependable director at Warner Bros. who gets some amiable results from a story which is a good mixture of humor and murderous doings. The finale has all the usual suspects gathered for the unveiling of the murderer--but none of it is quite convincing, even while it entertains and passes the time quickly.

MacMahon never disappoints and that's true here again. This movie is terrific... funny, with clever repartee, and fast paced! MacMahon and Kibbee have great chemistry.

To other reviewers who complained that this film is "derivative" or that the plot and setting are "unoriginal," I'd like to remind you that this movie was made in 1935...just how many times have these scenarios been played out before and after this particular film? As Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) said about storytelling: "There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages."

This film is highly entertaining and absolutely worth 66 minutes of your time!

This is probably the first entry in the "Lance O'Leary/Nurse Keat" detective series; in subsequent O'Leary films, he was played by much younger actors than Guy Kibbee.

A group of relatives (all played by well-known character actors) gathers in an old house (on a rainy nite, of course!) to speak to a wealthy relative, who goes into a coma.

While they wait for him to recover, all sorts of mysterious goings-on happen, including a couple of murders.

A creepy film; worth seeing!