Movie Review: Murder on a Honeymoon (1935)
Synopsis: While on a short flight to Catalina Island in California, schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers witnesses a fellow passenger, Roswell Forrest, come down sick then die. Police and the local coroner believe the death was from natural causes, but Hildegarde believes the man was murdered by one of the other passengers. When her friend, Police Inspector Oscar Piper, learns of the death and realizes Forrest was a key witness against a crime syndicate, Hildegarde's theory becomes more plausible. However, proving Forrest was murdered and determining how become more complicated when the body goes missing.
Who's in it? The movie stars Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Lola Lane, George Meeker and Willie Best.
Review: I absolutely loved The Penguin Pool Murder and Murder on the Blackboard. So, when I saw Murder on a Honeymoon, I quickly added it to my library. I watched it this morning and was not disappointed.
I'll start out by saying the dynamic between Hildegarde (Oliver) and Inspector Piper (Gleason) easily makes them one of my favorite duos. There's some great back and forth between them with a mix of comedy and the pair makes these fun to watch all by themselves. And as I think I've mentioned before, the fact it is purely a platonic friendship without any romantic entanglements only makes it better.
As far as the murder mystery is concerned, it more than lived up to the high expectations set with the previous two films. It was a locked room (or airplane) mystery with multiple possible suspects but no clear evidence about who killed Forrest (Brooks Benedict) or how they did it.
In fact, the movie does a great job of creating doubt about whether a murder even occurred by quickly debunking the various theories about how Forrest was killed, everything from drinking from a poisoned flask to smoking a poisoned cigarette. The only real evidence of foul play was someone feeling the need to hide the body.
The movie also does a similar great job with the potential murderers, with Hildegard or Piper seemingly heading in the right direction only to see their suspect get killed as well. I'm not even sure they would have been able to solve the case had it not been for unexpected help from a dog.
I liked how the movie ended as well, providing one last great back and forth between the two stars and a cute finale. It made me a bit sad this was the last movie (or at least the last one with Oliver) but it was at least a strong way to bring it to an end.
Final Opinion: If you like classic murder mysteries, this is a film you need to take the time to watch. In fact, make an afternoon of it and watch the previous two films as well.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1935:
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