The Penguin Pool Murder

1932

1h 10m

IMDb RATING

5.5/10

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1 Video

7 Images

Comedy

Mystery

New York schoolmarm Hildegarde Withers assists a detective when a body of unscrupulous stockbroker Gerald Parker suddenly appears in the penguin tank at the aquarium.

Directors

George Archainbaud

Writers

Stuart Palmer(novel by)

Lowell Brentano(story by)

Willis Goldbeck(screenplay by)

Stars

Edna May Oliver

James Gleason

Robert Armstrong

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Top cast

Edna May Oliver

Hildegarde Withers

James Gleason

Police Insp. Oscar Piper

Barry Costello

Gwen Parker

Philip Seymour

Officer Donovan

Bertrand B. Hemingway

James Donlan

Security Guard Fink

Gustav von Seyffertitz

Von Donnen

MacDonald

Chicago Lew

Parker

Telephone Operator

Judge

Jailer Strauss (uncredited)

Edith Fellows

Little Girl at Aquarium (uncredited)

Chuck Hamilton

Jack, Policeman (uncredited)

Mary Mason

Parker's Secretary (uncredited)

Directors

George Archainbaud

Writers

Stuart Palmer(novel by)

Lowell Brentano(story by)

Willis Goldbeck(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

There is something Marple-esque about Edna May Oliver's portrayal of the meticulous, no-nonsense, schoolteacher "Miss Withers". There's also something hideous about some of the fish in the aquarium where the police discover the corpse of the pretty universally disliked "Parker". It turns out that his wife (Mae Clarke) has a boyfriend (Donald Cook), and that both were present at the time of death. Looks like a bit of a no-brainer for "Insp. Piper" (James Gleason) but his chance meeting with the razor-sharp mind of the prim and proper "Withers" soon makes him think again. Despite his initially polite disdain, he realises that she is quite an insightful assistant as this turns out to be anything but as straightforward as everyone had hoped. The mystery itself is also very much in the vein of Agatha Christie - loads of red herrings and a victim about as popular as toothache. The production is kept moving along by some pacy direction and some pithy banter between the two investigators. Will they get to the bottom or not? Never in doubt, but not really important - this is a drama about characters and Oliver and Gleason gel well and engagingly for seventy minutes of sparring, spatting and... solving.

Geronimo196703 Dec, 2023