Super-Sleuth Film Review

It is a bit of a challenge for me to sit through 70-minutes of Jack Oakie, but Ann Sothern made it go down a lot easier. There are a bunch of actors from the Golden Age whose popularity mystifies me. Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy and George Brent come to mind. And then there is Oakie. I find him close to insufferable with his blowhard loud comedy. I can take him as the sidekick but here he is the lead. But I adore Ann Sothern and would put up with a face full of macaroni to watch her. She saves the film and figures out who the killer is. This is a comedy and in truth some of it is amusing - especially the final five minutes of slapstick mayhem in a horror museum with a bunch of gadgets and sliding contraptions - all being controlled by Willie Best. Yes, Willie Best. I saw his name in the opening credits and gave out a small cheer but then realized I was cheering for a racial stereotype. All the black comedians back then had to do the quasi-minstrel act and Best more than most with his slow slurring drawl but he has some funny moments here.

Oakie plays Willard Martin, a totally egotistical movie star of low budget crime films. Since he solves crimes in his films, he figures he is smarter than the police and constantly makes mockery of them - much to the aggravation of the Captain played by the wonderful Edgar Kennedy. His toupee bit was pretty good. The police have not been able to catch the Poison Pen Killer and Martin tells the press that he could. Of course, he is an idiot and it is his friend (Eduardo Ciannelli) who is the killer and who keeps trying to kill Martin ala The Pink Panther. Ann Sothern is the studio publicity person who can't understand why she loves this lug (and neither can we) and tries to keep him alive. You can do almost anything for 70-minutes but hold your breath, even watch Oakie.