The Best Thing that can be said about this Pre-Code "Old Dark House" Mystery is that the Print is Pristine. It Looks Smooth and Shiny, the Contrast is Excellent and it is just well, Swell.The Opening has Joan Blondell as the Title Character Stripping to Her Undies and a bit of Inner Thigh (a post code no-no) with Stockings is Exposed and there is some Talk with a Youngster about Visiting Her Boyfriend's Bedroom. That' the Extent of the "Forbidden Hollywood" Stuff.But this one is Played Very Light Anyway and it is Virtually Impossible to Keep it all Straight as there is so much Talk and so many Suspects that the Mystery gets Less Mysterious and More Confusing as Things Move Along.The Sets are Creepy Enough and some of the Characters Moving in and out of Suspicion are also Nutty, and there are Shadows Galore to Up the Spooky Level, with some Screams and Lurkers about. Worth a Watch, and take the Challenge to Decipher the Plot and Characters.

By the time MISS PINKERTON was made, Hollywood was starting to repeat themselves in their treatments of Mary Roberts Rinehart (first purveyor of the "little old lady detective" that Agatha Christie would perfect with her Miss Marple and Angela Lansbury would do to a fare thee well in her Jessica Fletcher character) and the stage based sets for their "old dark house" mysteries. From the very first shots of MISS PINKERTON, with long shadows cast on the facade of the house in question where murder is to be done (and done again?), we're back in the territory of THE BAT (aka The Spiral Staircase), Ms. Rinehart's most successful stage and film excursion.As before, we have Ms. Rinehart's feisty "little old lady," Elizabeth Patterson as Juliet Mitchell, accompanied by a comic companion (in this case Nurse Adams played by Joan Blondell) and a host of potential suspects in her mysterious (and enormous) old house, but as film making technique has progressed in only a few years of sound (and Ms. Rinehart knew when to vary a successful template), this time we have a fun twist in casting the young comedienne as the lead and assistant to the fresh faced detective (George Brent as Inspector Patten on his "first case"), and the old lady as one of the potential suspects, thought to pass off a suicide as murder for the insurance money . . . or was it murder after all?Blondell is at her youthful best, and the studio cast is crammed full of first class talent on their way up from C. Henry Gordon as Dr. Stuart to the briefest of shots of a young Walter Brennan as a Police Dispatcher at the beginning.Modern action buffs may sniff that the atmospheric tale seems at times to be more about the enormous, detailed sets than the mystery itself, with unidentified characters sneaking in and up long back staircases, women screaming and the odd comic set piece (is the dog a clue?), but director Lloyd Bacon (the silent film actor turned director who had shepherded Cole Porter's 50 MILLION FRENCHMAN to the screen the year before with members of the Broadway cast but without Porter's songs and would mount the classic 42ND STREET *with* songs the next year, continuing to work into the 1950's!) keeps the action spinning for the barely hour (six minutes over) running time.Bask in the details of life in the early depression era (before the details of life outside got too depressing) and have the good time this nicely layered film offers, seeing if you can keep the suspects and motivations straight even when murder is committed right in front of your eyes - and remember "it ain't over 'till it's over," and that isn't when it first appears!

This is an early entry in the comic/romantic mystery genre. Joan Blondell is bemoaning the boring existence of a hospital nurse when wham! She is commandeered by detective George Brent to help solve a murder case. It is he who, at her request gives her a title. The title is Miss Pinkerton.It's an old mansion with creepy servants and the whole deal. A young man has died. Suicide, it's thought; but we know better. The plot is a trifle complicated but not too far-fetched. And Blondell is as (almost) always a real joy.Brent is in it blessedly little and the supporting players all do what the need to do.

This is a typical "old house" film.....a black-clad figure that throws gigantic shadows on the walls, a secret entrance, all the characters "creeping around", a creepy butler, and all the rest!It's interesting that they use some of the same sets for that other fantastic "old house" film, Dr. X. (Most notably, the upstairs hall & the kitchen).Some people would say this film is "slow moving", but that is done deliberately to increase the creepy "something-is-about- to-happen" feeling.As an aside, it's remarkable that the actress who plays the sick old lady looks really OLD in this film, but in Bob Hope's "Cat & the Canary" (filmed almost 10 years later, as the Aunt) looks MUCH younger! She had one heck of a make-up job in THIS film!If you love "old house" films, don't miss it!