Associate producer: Henry Blanke. Copyright 29 January 1935 by Warner Bros Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Astor: 15 January 1935. Australian release: 8 May 1935. 7 reels. 73 minutes.SYNOPSIS: An American heiress is marked for murder at a lonely French hotel.COMMENT: Although the film starts far more promisingly than it finishes, "The White Cockatoo" is a fascinatingly atmospheric mystery, superbly enacted by a fine cast of players, including the lovely Jean Muir as the vulnerable heroine, dashing Ricardo Cortez as the helpful hero, shady Gordon Westcott as a mysterious "doctor", eccentric Ruth Donnelly as a matronly guest, and Minna Gombell as a conspiratorial inn-keeper. Most of the action takes place at night, enabling director Alan Crosland and photographer Tony Gaudio many dramatically atmospheric effects, all artistically framed, such as the shot of Jean Muir against the sea.OTHER VIEWS: A nicely complicated mystery, its atmosphere somewhat undermined by the casting of Walter Kingsford as a French inn- keeper, of all things. He mugs and over-acts atrociously. Fortunately, the rest of the players, including blonde charmer, Jean Muir, equally attractive Pauline Garon, suave John Eldredge and brusque Gordon Westcott make valiant efforts to save the picture from Kingsford's clutches. Thanks to Crosland's skillful direction and Gaudio's tingling photography, they succeed. - JHR writing as George Addison.

There's a comforting familiarity about small mystery thrillers from the 1930s, such as this one. It has a lot of the usual plot elements: mysterious tavern setting in an isolated part of the country (in this case France), a girl (Muir) waiting there to inherit a fortune, shots in the dark, a body found, the usual red herring suspects (almost everyone in the cast) and the police inspecting the case who are every bit as hopeless at solving a crime in France as they are in American set thrillers of the same nature.This Warner Brothers affair is directed with efficiency by old pro Alan Crosland, the film further benefiting from some wonderful tavern sets (probably left over from some bigger budgeted productions but every bit as effective here), all beautifully photographed.And the cast is an engaging one. Ricardo Cortez, second billed, is really the lead in this film, as an American tourist who becomes involved in the mysterious tavern happenings, and largely takes over as amateur detective in trying to crack the case (since it's apparent the police here will never be able to do so). And Cortez is solid in his part, as well as showing some smooth charm, which was his trademark.I happened to find the book of that title by Mignon Eberhart - a great mystery writer of the 30's and 40's - in a used bookstore. The film pretty much adheres to the story.

In the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood made approximately 400,038,823 films similar to "The White Cockatoo". Murder mystery/whodunnits were a dime a dozen back then and because of this, I wasn't too interested in watching this film though I did because I usually enjoy Richardo Cortez films. Fortunately, it's better than I expected.The film is set in a bizarro version of a French hotel. In other words, practically no one (other than the police who show up later) speaks with the least hint of a French accent! This isn't really a major problem...and it's common during this era of film making. Sue (Jean Muir) has come here from the States to meet her step-brother to settle their father's estate and they've never met each other. Jim (Cortez) is another American who just happens to be there and gets pulled into the murders...yes, murders. When the first body appears, the French police tell everyone that they must remain in the hotel until the case is solved. However, when more bodies start appearing you wonder who is going to buy the farm next and who is behind it all.Overall, despite being talky (very common to all these sort of films), this one is well acted, well made and has a genuinely interesting story. Well worth seeing and among the better whodunnits I have seen.

The White Cockatoo is a well-paced and well-plotted old dark house mystery starring Ricardo Cortez (very good as usual) and pretty Jean Muir, an all-but-forgotten actress who bore a striking resemblance to Gloria Stuart. Set in a remote French hotel (on the Warner's back lot), and utilizing several authentically French actors in minor roles, the story involves an attempted kidnapping, a stolen inheritance, several impersonations and a couple of murders. Though typical of the second feature crime dramas of the era, it's a much-better-than-average version of that genre and makes for an enjoyable 73 minutes of intrigue, with hidden rooms, stolen papers, long-lost siblings and some genuine surprises. The main attraction here is the strong supporting cast of Warner's stalwarts: Addison Richards, Ruth Donnelly, Minna Gombell (more glamorous than usual), Walter Kingsford, John Eldredge and Gordon Westcott. Oh, and there's also a nice little performance by Poochie, the titular white cockatoo. They all manage to bring some dimension to the characters, a quality which--along with a well-constructed story and better pacing than the average film of this ilk--elevates the picture to what I would call a B+. Highly recommended for fans of the genre.