The Plot Thickens

Zasu Pitts holds her own in this entry to the Stuart Palmer mystery series that spawned a movie entry. Hildegarde Winters and Oscar Piper solved murder mysteries in RKO's B movie cannon. Younger than Helen Broadrick and prettier than Edna May Olvier Zasu's Hildegarde seems to have a more social relationship with James Gleason's Oscar Piper. In this movie she has a golf date with Oscar. And in the movie 40 Naughty Girls they are attending a musical when murder rears its ugly head. Regardless of the different actress the movies as whole are very enjoyable. I hope to see them on DVD like Nancy Drew or Mike Shayne. The movies always had interesting locations that are no longer with us. From the New York Aquarium in The Penguin Pool Murders to the public school building in Murder on a Blackboard and out to sea on Catalina Island for Murder on a Honeymoon. A viewer gets a glimpse of history and living, of life and entertainment from a bygone era in Hollywood a viewer is given a look at life and living in a bygone age. p.s. I love to see old time telegram pages splashed on the screen. A Post Script: it is now 2014 and I have The Hildegarde / Oscar Movie set from WARNER ARCHIVES. I now firmly attest Zasu Pitts is the more comfortable 'Miss Withers for me. She sheds the spinster cast transforming the character into a crimebuster (with official police credentials)and masters the'Colombo' guise of detective misdirection by her mannerisms and appearance. She exhibits skills (using a hair pin to unlock handcuffs). Her mannerism of not seeming to pay attention makes suspects underestimate her very keen analytical mind. Miss Pitts also brought more emotion to the role. She shows enthusiasm for the thrill of solving a case.

Plot Thickens, The (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The fifth film in the Hildegarde Withers series is the first to have Zasu Pitts in the lead. This time out a man involved in a possible love triangle is murdered and there are countless suspects. Withers must assist Detective Oscar Piper (James Gleason) in tracking down the murder but soon more twists and turns begin to happen. THE PLOT THICKENS is the perfect title for this movie because it seems every ten-minutes or so another twist is happening and the film goes off into a new direction. It starts off as a love triangle mixed with murder but then more bodies begin to pile up and soon the witnesses are changing their stories and then we even get a heist subplot thrown in. At just 67-minutes this movie doesn't have a slow bone in its body because it goes so fast that at first you have to almost backtrack to try and figure out what's going on in the opening murder sequence. We get to see so many characters so quickly that I think the film hurts itself because by the time you figure out what's going on you're already onto the next murder and plot twist. The story should be given quite a bit of credit because even though this was just a "B" series, RKO went all out and really delivered a smart screenplay. It also doesn't hurt that Gleason and Pitts work so well together. No one will take the place of Edna May Oliver but Pitts is really good here. She plays the straight parts fine but she also has a very good comic timing that works perfectly well with Gleason. As for Gleason, he was always good in the series and he too turns in a fine performance. None of the supporting players really stand out but they're all decent enough. The final ten-minutes features a couple plot twists that her perfectly done including one pre-Scooby Doo sequence that really works tremendously well. THE PLOT THICKENS will certainly entertain fans of the series but it also makes you scratch your head wondering how the next film in the series (FORTY NAUGHTY GIRLS) could turn out so bad.

THE PLOT THICKENS (RKO Radio, 1936) directed by Ben Holmes, marks the fifth installment of Stuart Palmer's "Hildegarde Withers" mysteries Though James Gleason resumes his Inspector Oscar Piper of the Homicide Bureau, a role he originated in PENGUIN POOL MURDER (1932), followed by its sequels, MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD (1934), MURDER ON A HONEYMOON (1935) all starring Edna May Oliver as Hildegarde Withers; and MURDER ON A BRIDAL PATH (1936) with the recasting of Helen Broderick as Hildegarde Withers. While Broderick made a fine substitute for Oliver, Miss Withers this time around is recast again, played by the miscast ZaSu Pitts. Having worked together in previous films together, Gleason and Pitts show they make a grand team. Overlooking the fact that Pitts is no Edna May Oliver, and James Gleason gets more screen time than Pitts, THE PLOT THICKENS is actually good enough installment to hold its own.

Starting traditionally with a prologue set in New York's Van Cortlandt Park, plot development begins with the introduction of various characters: Officer Cassidy (Lew Kelly), an astrologist who reads about horoscopes and asking those about their birthday; to Robert Wilkins (Owen Davis Jr.) arguing with his girlfriend, Alice Stevens (Louise Latimer) over her involvement with millionaire businessman John Carter (Richard Tucker). Threatened not to see him again, Alice goes against his wishes by telephoning Carter to meet with her in the park. Discovered inside Carter's Roadster, the over jealous Robert threatens Carter but is stopped by Cassidy. After resisting Carter's advances, Alice leaves only to hear a gunshot and finding Carter murdered. The following morning, Carter's body is discovered seated behind the desk in his library by his butler, Kendall (Arthur Aylesworth). Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason) and his assistant, Jim (James Donlan) are called to investigate. As much as Piper intends on solving this case on his own, crime solver Hildegarde Withers (ZaSu Pitts) appears with intentions to help Oscar. Others involved in the case are Marie (Barbara Barondess), the maid; Joe (Paul Fix), the chauffeur; and Theresa (Bodil Rosing), the cook. The Carter case soon gets more involved and interesting as Miss Withers comes upon a priceless Cellini Cup located at a museum leading to more mystery than expected.

For its crisp 67 minutes, the involvement of both park murder and international jewel thievery gets better as the story progresses. Even though Pitts doesn't attempt to carbon copy either Oliver or Broderick's mannerisms of Hildegarde Withers, she manages not to do any damage to her character even when performed in the best Zasu Pitts tradition. Though the series could have ended here, the studio resumed with one last try reteaming Gleason and Pitts for FORTY NAUGHTY GIRLS (1937). That entry may have its moments but not enough to resume for more installments or turn it into a grand finale. (**1/2)

Zasu Pitts takes over the role of Hildegarde Withers for the first of two appearances in the role. She and James Gleason must deal not only with a murder, but with the theft of a piece of Cellini silver from a museum.

The recasting from Edna May Oliver is probably why Miss Pitts entrance is delayed until a quarter hour into the film; some one probably thought it would make people more answer to see her. She acquits herself quite handily, of course, but there seems to be a lack of snap in her chemistry with Gleason... or perhaps that's just a hangover from the snappish Miss Oliver.

We did not know that Hildegarde Withers plays golf, but our first view of Zasu Pitts in the role shows her practicing her swing (indoors, no less). It seems she had a golf date with her good friend, Inspector Oscar Piper, which he has unfortunately broken: a case has come up, and Miss Withers—quickly recovering from her irritation at being stood up—hastens to the scene to assist in the investigation.

James Gleason is Inspector Piper once again, and gives his usual entertaining performance as the irascible detective with a soft spot for the school teacher who follows him around offering unsolicited crime-solving advice. Zasu Pitts as Withers delivers the usual dry Withers comments and is true to the character in her impatience with fools. (A policeman mistakenly arrests and handcuffs her, then tells her anything she says may be used against her, to which she replies, "Anything I say may be used against YOU—and that'll be plenty if you don't unshackle me at once!") Pitts looks good in the role, and she and Gleason make a snappy team. Considering that this was Gleason's fifth film in his role but Pitts was brand new to hers, the interaction between the two is impressively smooth.

The plot involves the murder of one John Carter, who is shot dead in a parked roadster a mere moment after attempting to kiss a girl who didn't want to be kissed and then laughing at her. Suspects abound, of course; complicating the plot is a possible case of mistaken identity, as various characters were out and about, tailing and being tailed, at the time of the murder. Why again was the body dragged from the roadster and (eventually) deposited in the murdered man's own library? --The plot does indeed thicken.

A solid supporting cast includes James Donlan as a goofy cop with an interest in astrology; Paul Fix as a nervous chauffeur; and Louise Latimer, who had just played a different role (but a similar character) in the Withers mystery immediately preceding this one.

No classic, but certainly an entertaining hour for those of us who enjoy this kind of thing: great character actors, some good dialog, and a plot that's a bit more complicated than really necessary.