An amusing B comedy mystery has Lis Angeles D.A. Neil Hamilton up against a mystery playwright (Evelyn Venable) to solve a real murder mystery after he criticizes her latest play. The future commissioner Gordon of "Batman" T.V. fame is far less serious in his crime fighting efforts, trying to take Venable down a peg as she keeps upping him every chance she gets. The stadium mystery surrounds the sudden murder of a prize fighter, and Venable makes herself very useful on solving the case which had fellow boxers, various lady friends and underworld sorts among the suspects. Several non-suspects take credit for the killing, only briefly throwing a monkey ranch into the plot. Cheaply done but fast moving, this may not be worthy of a series like other comedy detective stories, but it is an awful lot of fun.

A boxing match is the setting for a whodunit murder mystery. But the real focus here is the camaraderie between the local D.A. (Neil Hamilton) and a famed mystery writer (Evelyn Venable). The two engage each other in a friendly duel to see which one can solve the case. The focus on them and their good-humored banter drains away any tension or suspense the story might otherwise have had. But that's hardly the only problem.Character development of the various suspects is almost non-existent. And only when the puzzle solution is revealed do we learn important information related to the killer's motive. For a murder mystery, that's a no-no. It puts the viewer at an unfair disadvantage. Further, the key clue that leads to the identity of the killer is not at all credible.In addition, characters talk unnaturally fast. Frequently, there are no pauses between lines of dialogue. The film's runtime of just sixty-two minutes conveys the impression that the project had a serious budget problem.The film's sound is terrible. Lighting is not much better. Production design is cheap. Acting is marginally acceptable. About the only element worth a positive note is the presence of actress Barbara Pepper, as a Hollywood starlet.Otherwise, this is a forgettable, way below average film that uses a whodunit storyline as an excuse to provide a cinematic vehicle for the two main actors.

As we might expect from director David Howard and writer Stuart Palmer (joined by the McGowan Brothers for screenplay), this is a superior who-dun-it. Mind you, Mr Palmer is a mystery spinner of the always-a-character-you-least-expect school, but in this spin of the wheel we have quite a few such characters to choose from, such as Robert Homans (promoted from the beat to captain for this movie), the cute Lynne Roberts, flashy Barbara Pepper, a brain-dead watchman, Mr District Attorney himself and even Smiley Burnette. The only character we can reasonably excuse is the gorgeous Evelyn Venable because Mr Palmer always has a soft spot for his heroines and it would be very disappointing to find such a classy number mixed up with a dumb pug.Also as we might expect, David Howard has directed this little spree with considerable style which helps to make up for some shortcomings in the action itself. Instead from its trick opening to its unexpected fade-out, moderately witty dialogue rather than action is king. Happily, we also move briefly out of the sound stages to a few real Hollywood locations, including the none-too-imposing entrance-way to Republic Studios, where Miss Roberts treats us to a little comedy relief (which will not set any too well with African-Americans and could easily be deleted).In all, however, a thoroughly enjoyable and surprisingly well-produced "B".

Neil Hamilton plays a District Attorney investigating the murder of a boxer moments before a championship fight. The fighter collapsed with no clear signs of foul play after a tribute to a recently deceased champion. Forced to match wits and trade wisecracks with a mystery writer, played by Evelyn Venable, the DA must try to contend with an arena full of suspects including Smiley Burnette.This is a great little thriller that gets along mostly on the winning performance of the two leads and the smart quips they trade. They are a later day Nick and Nora who are forever trying to one up each other so as to win which ever five dollar bet that is currently passing between them. While the murder itself doesn't make a great deal of sense when its finally revealed, you really won't care since you'll be having too much fun watching the DA and mystery writer try to out do the other.I have to say that the look and feel of this movie is spectacular. Looking at it you'd be hard pressed to believe that this was a B-movie with its large cast, numerous and varying sets. Actually to be honest this is what B-movies really used to be, well produced features for the second part of a double bill. If it wasn't for the B-list cast this could easily pass for a main feature.This is little gem thats worth keeping an eye out for.