Marja's Vintage Mystery Movie Picks
A true classic, Arsenic and Old Lace, starring Cary Grant. Not really a mystery, this is still one of my all-time favorite old
movies. Grant plays Mortimer Brewster, an author and the nephew of two very lethal little old ladies who murder lonely old men as
an "act of charity" – and bury them in the basement. Mortimer is trying to marry the girl next door, but discovers his aunts’ secret
just before eloping. He initially assumes his crazy uncle, who believes he is Theodore Roosevelt, is the killer.
Confused yet? Add
a cop who wants to have his writing published and a demented brother who travels with a plastic surgeon, and let the games begin.
This is a movie you’ll want to watch when you’ve got time to pay attention because there’s so much happening that you won’t want to
miss any of it.
The third in this next series is my favorite...The Whistling Detective series starring Red Skelton and Ann Rutherford. Wally
Benton, better known as The Fox, is a radio show sleuth who solves mysteries for the listening public. Of course, Wally and his girlfriend,
Carol, manage to reluctantly involve themselves in some real life mysteries when not performing for the radio show. Wally tends to
twitch when he even hears the word “murder”, so watch for some fun.
In Whistling in Dixie, Wally and Carol travel to the South to help
a friend of Carol’s, whose boyfriend has disappeared. There’s a fortune in buried gold and an old Confederate fort to add to the mayhem,
and plenty of eccentric characters to hold your interest. This is a have-a-good-time mystery to lighten any boring or stormy
afternoon. Great one-liners and physical humor.
The Mad Miss Manton - Debutante Melsa Manton (Barbara Stanwyck) takes her dogs for a walk after coming home from a costume party and
finds a dead body in a vacant house after seeing someone she knows race away. When the police show up and find her in her costume,
and no dead body, they think she’s pulling a prank, something she and her crowd have a reputation for doing. Peter Ames (Henry
Fonda), a reporter, writes a scathing front page story about Melsa and her friends, believing them to be the spoiled rich with too
much time on their hands and nothing to do but cause trouble.
The debutantes find another dead body; the man seen leaving the scene
of the murder. And Melsa begins receiving threats. She and her friends decide it’s time to take things into their own hands and find
a killer.
This movie has a little humor, a little romance, and a couple of murders! Just the thing to brighten up a dreary day. If
you enjoy vintage movies, you’ll see some familiar faces in this one, including Hattie McDaniel who plays Stanwyck’s maid. This one
is a bit silly, but a lot of fun.