The Penguin Pool Murder & Murder on the Blakcboard
Directed by: George Archainbaud
Written by: Willis Goldbeck
Based on the novel by: Stuart Palmer
The Penguin Pool Murder explores the case of a murdered stockbroker whose body is discovered at the local zoo. Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason; Arsenic and Old Lace) is called in to solve the case but he doesn’t count on a wise-cracking school teacher, Hildegard Withers (Edna May Oliver; Drums along the Mohawk), becoming involved in the solving of the case.
Penguins are some of my favorite animals despite their grotesque lifestyles, but that joy took a backseat to the pairing up of Inspector Piper and Ms. Withers almost immediately after the two were paired together and started trading banter. Hildegard Withers was always one sarcastic step ahead of the oafish Inspector Piper, and it was wonderful to witness the evolution of women’s rights and steps to equality in American cinema.
These two would be paired again in Murder on the Blackboard when a local music teacher is found dead. I enjoyed this particular film just as much as it’s predecessor because the audience got a chance to see these characters evolve which is something I was personally not used to witnessing during Hollywood’s Golden Age. The dialogue was just as sharp as it was in The Penguin Pool Murder and it made me yearn for a modern interpretation of the Inspector Piper and Ms. Withers.
I don’t mean remakes, but the way Gleason paraded like the chauvinistic male did during the 1930’s only to be mentally and morally sideswiped by the independent and rambunctious Edna May Oliver was some of the most entertaining Hollywood products I have witnessed in quite some time, and their chemistry left me wanting more movies involving this madcap crime-solving duo.
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