An attorney and his partner get caught up in a series of murders involving a crooked businessman and his crony district attorney. In fact suspicion is cast on the attorney himself as he threads his way through the thicket.Comedy mysteries were popular during this period. The sophisticated Thin Man series was probably the best, though the many amateur sleuth series on lesser budgets also proved popular, e.g. Charlie Chan, The Saint, et al. This movie attempts the same ground, but tries to work in too many elements. Trouble is they fail to build in effective fashion. The whodunit part never really gels since little time is given to assessing the suspects, while the comedic part fares better with some good snappy lines. However, the comedic part is overridden by cutie Terry's antics that are way overblown and finally annoying. Clearly some restraint was needed, but a firm hand was lacking. Apparently credited director Garnett took sick and impresario Wanger had to step in. That may account for unevenness of the overall result.Nonetheless, O'Brien lends the proceedings what credibility there is, while a young Crawford gets to show an uncharacteristic and somewhat comedic side. In fact the supporting cast includes many sinister faces from the period—Fowley, Richards, Dumbrille, Dodd. Now I'm as broad-minded as most movie fans, but pairing 41-year old O'Brien with teenage Terry acting like a 10-year old appears a risky bet for audiences even now. Plus, having her drop her dress moment to moment may be amusing but struggles against the questionable context. Looks like their pairing was trying to get as far away from Nick and Nora as possible.All in all and despite the promising elements, the package is simply too unwieldy to hold together. Too bad.

Is there such a thing as a slapstick murder mystery? I had to convince myself that this was more than just a crime drama with some comic relief thrown in. There's a fair amount of witty dialog and interesting curve-balls thrown at the viewer, like the screaming peacock on Alma Brehmer's balcony. Thinking about that now, why would a peacock be there in the first place?The see-saw between humor and drama may not appeal to a lot of viewers, and I have to admit it was distracting until I decided to go with the flow. Then it became a confident battle of wits between attorney John Webb (Pat O'Brien) and the unknown killer attempting to set him up for murder. For a 1939 'B' mystery this one was stacked with a talented cast, O'Brien leading the way with Edward Arnold, Alan Dinehart, Claire Dodd, Phyllis Brooks, Eve Arden and Broderick Crawford before he began to look like Broderick Crawford. I have to side with the prevailing opinion here that Ruth Terry probably wore out her welcome as Webb's wannabe girlfriend of eighteen years and two months.I'll have to watch this again to better understand how the resolution makes sense. The identity of the murderer seemed like a forced twist to disavow the other suspects and I won't spoil it here, you'll have to catch it yourself. Then for a real head spinner, O'Brien's character has a sudden change of heart and puts a final move on Miss Seymour (Terry) to close out the picture. Like I said, a slapstick murder mystery.

The overriding story of the film - the murder of a well-known party girl (Claire Dodd) whose body is discovered by crusading attorney John Webb (Pat O'Brien) who also happens to be a former boyfriend - and things don't look good for our hero who is instantly murder suspect number one. Furthermore Webb is trying to get the goods on graft king Vincent Cushing (Edward Arnold). Webb thinks Cushing did the murder and set him up to take the fall, and thus spends the rest of the movie trying to clear his name. The movie is well-paced and everything is moving along in an interesting fashion when every few minutes - like interference on a radio channel - in pops Ruth Terry's character and her incessant yammering. She has her eye set on Webb from the moment she sees him although she says she's 18 and he looks old enough to be her father. She lies about her background, so why couldn't she be lying about her age? If Webb were smarter he'd be equally as worried about getting involved in a statutory rape rap as he is murder. What girl of 18 gets dressed up in a revealing gown, goes to a party full of known hoods, and then is shocked when one puts the moves on her? Or doesn't have the sense to NOT take her dress off in front of a grown man when she's alone in his apartment? She's either 13 or she doesn't have all of her marbles.I waste so much time on Terry's character here because it distracts from what could have been a very good film. I took off two stars just for the annoyance factor alone. Other than that - and its a big "that" - the film is a great noir with an interesting twist at the end. Robert Osborne said that director Tay Garnett became ill during filming and Walter Wanger had to finish the film out himself with Garnett very upset at the end result. I can only guess that Mr. Garnett's objections were the same as mine.

What a surprise. This film, which showcases the under-remarked comic skills of Pat O'Brien is a genuine treat which belongs right up there with "The Front Page" (with O'Brien and James Cagney) its remake "His Girl Friday" and the best of the 'Thin Man' series. Director Tay Garnett is probably best known for directing some of the better series in the early days of television ("Bonanza", "The Untouchables" "Naked City", "Rawhide")and at least two film classics ("The Postman Always Rings Twice" , "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court"). After seeing this film one can only guess that the reason his name is not as well known as that of Sturgess or Capra or even Wilder is that he moved to television at a time when that medium was seen as a real threat to the film industry and thereby encountered some resentment. How else to explain the fact that "Slightly Honorable" is not mentioned on more 'Best' lists?O'Brien is probably more likable (and believable as a semi-romantic lead) here than in almost any of his other films. Always effective in serious dramas he reminds us of how versatile some of our greatest stars of middle period American cinema (Cagney, John Wayne, Katherine Hepburn,Clark Gable) were-switching effortlessly from drama to comedy in a way that seems to be beyond the scope of some later stars.Much the same can be said for Ruth Terry who would own this film were it not for the strength of her co-star's performances. Terry retired before she was 45 years old. By that time she was reduced to bit parts but a look at her work here will have you shaking your head in wonder at how that happened.A great performance from Broderick Crawford and standout supporting turns from Eve Arden and Claire Dodd (among others) crackerjack pacing and set design,snappy clever and first rate dialogue combine to make for a wonderful hilarious film that deserves a wide audience and a restoration treatment to enhance the sometimes muddy soundtrack and occasional glitch in the currently available print. Do NOT hesitate to rent this one.By the way, contrary to IMDb's spell checking feature "dialogue" is NOT a misspelling. Look it up.