A schoolteacher and amateur sleuth suspects foul play when a fellow passenger on a sea-plane gets sick and dies.A schoolteacher and amateur sleuth suspects foul play when a fellow passenger on a sea-plane gets sick and dies.A schoolteacher and amateur sleuth suspects foul play when a fellow passenger on a sea-plane gets sick and dies.
Harry Ellerbe
- Marvin Deving
- (as Harry Ellerbee)
Willie Best
- Willie
- (as Sleep 'n' Eat)
Harry Allen
- Hotel Gardener
- (uncredited)
Irving Bacon
- Man With Pelican
- (uncredited)
James P. Burtis
- Deputy
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThird and final film for Edna May Oliver playing Hildegard Withers. The other two films being Penguin Pool Murder (1932) and Murder on the Blackboard (1934).
- GoofsA shoe with a "K" carved on the heel would leave an impression with the "K" reversed. The "K" in the heel print in the movie is not reversed, showing that it's not really a heel print.
- Quotes
Oscar Piper: So that's your system?
Hildegarde Withers: Can you suggest a better one?
Oscar Piper: I suggest using your head a little.
Hildegarde Withers: That'd be nice work for you, Oscar, if you could get it.
Hildegarde Withers: Uuuhhh!
- ConnectionsFollowed by Murder on a Bridle Path (1936)
Featured review
OK mystery made memorable by the chemistry of the leads..
... which would be Edna May Oliver as schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and James Gleason as NYPD detective Oscar Piper. The first film had these two on their way to get married at the conclusion, but that would have ruined the sequels, so they are just good friends and colleagues. In this installment, Hildegarde is going to Catalina on a seaplane when a fellow passenger suddenly takes ill and dies. Law enforcement on the island seems rather lax, and the coroner is just going to chalk it up to heart failure. For some reason, Hildegarde thinks it is murder. Not getting any help from the locals, she wires Oscar in New York. It turns out the man who died was hiding from the police as he was a key witness to the crimes of a big city gang and was afraid for his life. Apparently he was justified in that fear. Oscar thus flies to Catalina to do further investigation, but then the body is stolen in the middle of the night so there can't be a proper autopsy.
So everybody on the plane is a suspect, and they could have been hired by the mob in New York to do away with this guy, but none of them have obvious criminal histories. The plot thus gets rather involved as is the search for the missing body. The fact that the production code is in force blunts the banter between Hildegarde and Oscar, but they are still good together. There was something special about Oliver as Hildegard - The way she adjusted her wrap after making a point, Those eyes that sparkled, the all knowing look she would give. Unfortunately this will be her last film in this role as she switches studios from RKO to MGM where she plays in support of a number of production code era costume dramas. I don't think that movie factory MGM ever got the mileage out of her that little RKO did. But I digress. I would recommend this one, but definitely see "Penguin Pool Murder" first as it lays the groundwork for the relationship between Withers and Piper.
So everybody on the plane is a suspect, and they could have been hired by the mob in New York to do away with this guy, but none of them have obvious criminal histories. The plot thus gets rather involved as is the search for the missing body. The fact that the production code is in force blunts the banter between Hildegarde and Oscar, but they are still good together. There was something special about Oliver as Hildegard - The way she adjusted her wrap after making a point, Those eyes that sparkled, the all knowing look she would give. Unfortunately this will be her last film in this role as she switches studios from RKO to MGM where she plays in support of a number of production code era costume dramas. I don't think that movie factory MGM ever got the mileage out of her that little RKO did. But I digress. I would recommend this one, but definitely see "Penguin Pool Murder" first as it lays the groundwork for the relationship between Withers and Piper.
helpful•70
- AlsExGal
- Jun 27, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Puzzle of the Pepper Tree
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 14 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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