Miss Pinkerton (1932)

How sad is this?

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Joan Blondell is nicknamed "Miss Pinkerton" in this 1932 film also starring George Brent and Ruth Hall. She's nicknamed Miss Pinkerton by Brent when she attempts to help solve a murder. She's actually Nurse Adams, bored with her hospital job. She's offered a chance to take care of an elderly lady who has gone into shock after finding someone dead in her house from an apparent suicide. Nurse Adams is supposed to keep an eye on things. She's thrilled.Miss Pinkerton doesn't believe the suicide - she thinks it was murder. The house gives her plenty of ammunition to believe it. It's an old, dark with a mean-looking maid, a scary butler, the frightened patient, and the doctor who doesn't seem too stable either.A young girl shows up (Hall). She was married to the murder victim but in love with someone else. This someone is Elliot (Donald Dillaway) who has been caught sneaking around the house. There is also a stenographer (Mary Doran). Then there is a second murder.George Brent is the investigating detective, and he's young and unmustached here. Normally he played opposite a major leading lady. He's charming here.Fast-moving mystery with the delightful Blondell keeping things lively. Some interesting camera work, including a gigantic shadow of a man over the house. Lots of screaming, too, as befits this kind of movie.

Nurse Joan Blondell is bored with the humdrum goings-on at the hospital where she works. So when offered a little excitement by helping the police with a murder investigation, she jumps at the chance. Pleasant old dark house mystery with a little bit of comedy added to the mix. Joan's wonderful, as she always was in the '30s. Pretty, funny, immensely likable. Very fetching in that nurse uniform. She's one of the most underrated stars of her era. She's got nice support here from George Brent in an early role and many fine character actors like Holmes Herbert and C. Henry Gordon. Also Elizabeth Patterson (Miss Trumbull from I Love Lucy) plays the old lady Blondell is assigned to take care of. Well-directed by Lloyd Bacon with some nicely-framed shots and some spooky use of wind and shadows. The film ends in such a way one might think this was the first of a series. Unfortunately, that's not the case and there were no sequels.

Hard to believe that Joan Blondell only got 65 minutes to strut her stuff in "Miss Pinkerton". She plays a very bored nurse ("I'm beginning to envy the patients - at least things happen to them"!!) and in answer to her prayers she is assigned to look after an elderly lady who has gone into shock after finding a murder victim. She is really working for Inspector Patton (dishy George Brent) who gives her the moniker "Miss Pinkerton". The apparent "suicide" is a young man whose death has paved the way for the happiness of the rest of the family. This is a really enjoyable comedy/mystery, there are plenty of scary shadows on the walls, things that go bump in the night, the usual suspects - a dour maid, an ominous butler (who threatens to kill a little dog, Miss Pinkerton's "palsy walsy"), a nervous doctor and a jittery patient - did I mention Miss Blondell is a terrific screamer - she would give Fay Wray a run for her money!!!! The judge rules suicide but Miss Pinkerton is not buying it - then a young girl appears, it is Paula Brent (Ruth Hall) she married the murder victim while loving Elliot (Donald Dillaway) yet another person who has been caught prowling around the house and is now charged with murder!! Oh yes, there is also the stenographer Miss Lenz (Mary Doran, to all those devotees of pre-coders, enough said).George Brent was just the perfect unobtrusive leading man which made him so popular in the early 30s handsome but with a personality that wouldn't overpower the leading lady. Lyle Talbot also played a bit as a newsman. In 1933 Ruth Hall was in a short "Hollywood on Parade" which introduced several Hollywood starlets (Mary Carlisle, Patricia Ellis, Gloria Stuart etc) who were chosen as stars of tomorrow and unfortunately Ruth was the only one who didn't make good (her very pronounced lisp could have been the trouble) - her best years were 1932 - 1933.Pinkerton is synonymous with detective agencies. Alan Pinkerton, a Scotsman, emigrated to the United States and after serving in the Civil War he became Chicago's first detective and started his own agency. He was involved with tracking down the Reno Gang and Jesse James and at the time of his death was working on a centralized criminal data base that is still used by the F.B.I.

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!