At the end of "The Penguin Pool Murder", Edna May Oliver and James Gleason discover their affection for each other, and it is implied that nuptials may be afoot. Here, when she is first seen, Miss Withers (Oliver) is reading an inscription from Mr. Piper thanking her for her unsolicited help in "The Penguin Pool Murders". Obviously, wedded bliss for the "September Couple" has not happened. Piper does not realize he is about to be solicited by her again, this time for a murder which takes place right in her place of employment. A young music teacher is killed and enough clues are left behind to reveal who the killer is. Once again, as in the first film, Miss Withers makes it clear she knows she is smarter than the detectives on the case and Mr Piper must acknowledge her for her brilliance in crime solving. Like "PPM", the rapport et between Oliver and Gleason is what makes the film sparkle. These are types of actors we don't see much of today. The closest to EMO I see are the late soap actress Lois Kibbee (who used some similar tricks to EMO's in her "Edge of Night" and "Caddyshack" performances) and Frances Sternhagen, who made public humiliation of her "Cheers" son Cliff downright hysterical and stole the Broadway version of "Steel Magnolias" away from its talented all-star cast. With James Gleason, the closest must be Jack Warden who took on Gleason's "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" role of Max Corkle in "Heaven Can Wait".This time, the murder involves some hanky-panky between a principal and his secretary, a winning lottery ticket, a secret marriage, a drunken janitor, and music notes left on a blackboard. There is a great moment between Oliver and one of her students whom she must keep after school for spreading gossip, and some chilling scenes in the basement of the school where the lights are suddenly darkened. But the payoff of the crime isn't as rewarding as that of "The Penguin Pool Murder", probably because the set-up for the killing and who all the suspects are isn't as satisfying. Only the use of music on the blackboard as a clue is somewhat ingenious. So, in all, "Murder on the Blackboard" is a decent films with "moments" rather than "atmosphere", making it watchable if totally unsatisfying.

Murder on the Blackboard is the second of three Hildegarde Withers stories that Edna May Oliver and James Gleason were teamed for. Today the charm of these two people, two of the best character actors that movies ever saw carry this rather dated and melodramatic story.One of the teachers at Edna's school, Barbara Fritchie, winds up very dead and she's quite the lively corpse as the perpetrator keeps moving the body in an effort to be rid of it. In fact the only way the crime is discovered is because that day Edna kept young Jackie Searle after school.Unlike the Thin Man movies where you could have as many as ten suspects or more in a room as Nick and Nora reveal all, this is not MGM with their lavish productions. This is RKO and this studio had a limited budget for their films. We only have four suspects so your chances of guessing who did it increase quite a bit.Edgar Kennedy as the dumb cop who gets clunked on the head and develops amnesia is his usual funny self. In fact he's the foil used to catch the murderer in the end. As for the end, I found it a bit melodramatic for my taste and let it go at that.But for fans of the wonderful Edna May Oliver and the dependable James Gleason this film is a must.

MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD is good old-fashioned fun with Edna May Oliver, my favorite character actress of the '30s, sleuthing in Nancy Drew manner with James Gleason at her side as a crusty detective. This time the amateur sleuth helps solve a case involving a murdered music teacher and gets herself into deep trouble with the killer who means business when he tries to throw an axe at her in a dark basement cellar. Edna May's brisk, no nonsense manner fits the character of Hildegarde Withers to perfection and she's never at a loss for a quick retort when Gleason becomes a bit overbearing. Their game of one-up-man-ship is what keeps the story moving briskly to a satisfying conclusion.The fact that it's terribly dated in dialogue and situations is what gives this little mystery a quaint sort of charm. One of the better in a series of Hildegarde Withers murder mysteries.

This was the second of 3 films Edna May Oliver made at RKO starring as that indomitable school teacher/sleuth, Miss Hildegarde Withers. As always, Miss Oliver steals the show, sticks it in her handbag and walks off with it.This time she attempts to track down a murderer right in her own New York City school. With her gimlet eye & no-nonsense manner, the killer never really stands a chance.Miss Oliver, as always, is a joy to watch. James Gleason returns as the harried police detective Oscar Piper, now Hildegarde's boyfriend. Also on hand are Edgar Kennedy, Bruce Cabot & Tully Marshall. But, as in the other Withers films, Edna May is the real reason to watch.