UnowPriceless
hyped garbage
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Arianna Moses
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Paularoc
Guy Kibbee brightened many a movie in supporting roles. Kibbee was a great character actor but really couldn't carry a leading role even in a B movie. Jim Hanvey (Kibbee) has retired to the country but, since he was a renowned detective, an insurance company asks him to recover the stolen emeralds. Come to find out a young friend of Hanvey, Don Terry (Tom Brown) and Joan Frost (Lucie Kaye) stole the emeralds from her family's home safe on a dare. They intended to replace the emeralds but before they can do so, the jewels are in turn stolen from them. They too ask Hanvey to investigate and help them get the emeralds back to the safe. Hanvey finds the emeralds, but when Don tries to replace them, he's knocked out and unfortunately, the Frost's butler is murdered. In a rather hit or miss fashion, Hanvey sorts it all out in the end. A high light of the movie is seeing Ed Gargan and Edward Brophy as incompetent and rather likable thugs who were initially menacing but end up helping Hanvey. Gargan generally played dumb cops or house detectives so it was odd seeing him as a hoodlum. All in all, a pleasant enough way to kill an hour but a rather humdrum programmer. However, the print of the movie I saw was the shortened version and was a poor print. This certainly may have influenced my assessment of the movie.
mark.waltz
Guy Kibbee was one of the most lovable and popular character actors of the 1930's and played his share of leading roles, but this is perhaps his worst. It is a poverty row mystery that seems through its title to be the pilot for a series of films which never followed. This single film surrounds a jewel robbery with amateur detective Kibbee determined to prove that someone other than the accused was the guilty party. A boring young romance throws the film off its pacing. Other than Kibbee, only Catherine Doucet as a Margaret Dumont like matron adds any amusement. Kibbee would later have a short-lived series playing Scattergood Baines, but this one was instantly forgettable.
dbborroughs
Guy Kibbee plays the titled detective in a meandering good natured romp that turns deadly. The plot of the film has an insurance company coming to call on Hanvey, a unique detective who has retired to the sticks. It seems a priceless jeweled necklace as gone missing and they want Hanvey to find it so they don't have to pay out the hundred grand. Hanvey finds out almost instantly that the jewels were taken as part of a bet and now they have to be put back with out anyone finding out. Unfortunately things turn deadly as the butler is killed and the wrong man is on the run with only Hanvey standing between him and the chair.Much of what happens is funny. Much of what happens seems to meander out of left field, but that's okay since its the loopiness of the proceedings that make this so watchable. This isn't the greatest film ever made but it is a good one that is far from run of the mill.I recommend this, especially if you've become tired of all of the other detective programmers of the 30's and 40's.(though try to find the full version since some discount releases are well under an hour)
boblipton
Guy Kibbee gets a rare leading role in this amiable comedy-mystery about some missing emeralds -- not who stole them, but how he's going to return them. Plus the usual murder or two. Kibbee plays his usual amiable buffoon, only sharper-eyed, and the whole thing plays like a travesty of THE THIN MAN.
