Almost half of the movie shows a womanizing actor's life of apparently enviable debauchery; several scenes are offered to a chimpanzee's naughtiness and mischief, to old detective Jimmy's singing, etc., while the bare plot was hugely exciting, but squeezed to suit the whims mentioned, and a sort of obliqueness; since I mentioned squeezing, occasional humor is squeezed out of racial jokes, and of all stereotypes, there's a caricature of a Jewish manager, a tandem of cops (Jimmy and Marty), a reporter, but the older detective manages to take over his scenes, anyway the awkwardness, the looseness may be attributed to nonchalance, while the puzzle is given away from the 1st scene …. The murder mysteries, several, are obliquely referenced, which makes the storyline look awkward but enthralling.Once upon a time, movies, and movies like this one, meant a different thing, they were shows to enjoy, and none foresaw they might be, 83 yrs later, analyzed on a website; they were watched in a theater, and were mainly shows, like the TV episodes have been later, 15 yrs after this movie was released.Dorothy Mackaill plays Lola, her character is creepy, but the actress was classier than her colleagues (the tycoon's daughter was appealing only, while the wife was a vulgar shrew). It was her 12th year in the cinema, her 14th if we count the shorts and lost movies from her first couple of yrs. From '55 on (by then she was 52, and a thrice divorcée), Dorothy spent her next decades in Honolulu, for another 35 yrs.

This inconsequential mystery starts off intriguing and descends rapidly from there. Paul Cavanagh plays a Broadway playboy actor who has broken several hearts, tee'd off a few husbands and made other assorted enemies, so when he gets shot in the middle of a party (with the lights all of a sudden going out of course), who is really surprised? The focus goes off the human suspects and onto a trained chimpanzee when detective Jim Hanvey (an over the top C. Aubrey Smith) arrives, and for the next few reels, it's chimp and mouse as the pranksterous monkey even gains a front page headline. Former Warner Brothers ingénue Dorothy MacKaill descends to the skids, receiving only a few moments of screen time as the most vulnerable of all the suspects with the always tough Natalie Moorehead at her typical bitchiest as another predatory female.If there was a bit more focus on the human characters for at least ten minutes, this might have been a fair bottom of the barrel Z-grade programmer. Not enough detail, past the opening flashback of the sins of the soon to be murdered actor, keeps this from really providing an even remotely tense conclusion. While the idea of having a non-human suspect in a murder is an obviously original plot twist, the subtext of comedy behind it all makes the whole thing totally difficult to swallow.

The set up of the mystery is pretty conventional. An over-amorous leading man (Paul Cavanagh as Wylie Thornton) feels like he must mate with every woman between 18 and 35 who crosses his path. All the while he's telling each of them that she is the only one for him. In one case though Wylie over-achieves and actually marries one of the women (Natalie Moorhead as Alma). That is a mystery in itself since Wylie is quite the social climber yet when he marries he does so with his secretary, the two are not living together, and he treats her badly but expects her to keep their marriage a secret. Even stranger is she DOES keep their secret and continues on as his secretary! But Natalie Moorhead does shine in the part of the wife. She sleeps with Wylie when the urge hits her then ridicules him in the morning and demands extra spending money. Maybe that's why he seems to hate her so much - she's the only one of his women who seems to see him for the not so wily ham actor that he is.When Wylie is shot at his birthday party after the lights go out, there are a multitude of suspects. Two detectives are brought in on the case - Martin Gallagher (Sam Hardy), a young detective, is in charge. His subordinate, Jim Hanvey (C. Aubrey Smith), is a much older man. The younger detective is always going off half cocked and jumping to conclusions, and the older detective is methodical and does not confront the younger detective about his careless methods. He just investigates in his own quiet way. In the end, when the younger detective thinks he has solved the crime, Hanvey lets him believe he is right and take the credit because it doesn't mean false arrest for anyone (I'll let you watch and see what I mean), plus, as Hanvey tells the actual killer, he would have done the same in their shoes. Thus the ending is definitely precode in that an actual killer goes unpunished.The unexpected history lesson I was talking about is when one of the reporters is hounding the younger detective for information. When the younger detective tells the reporter something he thinks is ridiculous his retort is "says Hitler!". I guess a popular alternative phrase in 1933 would have been "nuts to you". In other words, in 1933 at least, Hitler was seen as just a buffoonish little man.I'd recommend this as one of the better poverty row productions I've seen. It really is a showcase for C. Aubrey Smith, who usually played supporting roles in films at the bigger studios. Just don't expect much in the way of sets because these smaller studios didn't have the money for such niceties.

This is the type of film that one might find listed in the old Forgotten Horrors book about forgotten chillers from independent studios. From Majestic Pictures during the golden age of mysteries, a rare film I had tried to hunt down many years back with no luck. I was pleasantly surprised to see the film listed for sale on Amazon and quickly made the purchase.For it's type, a 1930's independent studio release, it is quite good. An actor with many enemies is bumped off during a party at a theatre. The actor was a true rogue making it tough for the detectives probing the case. C. Aubrey Smith plays Hanvey, a cagey, methodical sleuth. While, Sam Hardy, plays Gallagher, a dim-witted police captain, played mostly for laughs. One of the running gags throughout the film is Gallagher arresting whomever is the top suspect at a certain time.Did I mention the monkey? Groan if you want to, that's what I did when I saw him. Yes, monkeys were certainly popular in films during the late 1920's and early 1930's and yes the monkey is a suspect in the case. Although the monkey is not really annoying, far too much screen time is wasted on him, especially when considering the talented actors on hand for this minor B picture. C. Aubrey Smith is always welcomed. Ruthelma Stevens was a treat whenever she made a rare appearance. Same for Paul Cavanagh and Hale Hamilton, all excellent performers.The finale is unique, in that Smith, like Sherlock Holmes was to do upon occasion, solves the mystery, but then lets the killer go free, feeling justice had been served. For collectors of rare films and the people like myself who enjoy the poverty row studios, warts and all.