1934's "The Crosby Case" is among Universal's finest whodunits (on par with "Bombay Mail," both superior to "Secret of the Château"), beginning quickly with the murder of a shady doctor, staggering in front of a moving cab, but later revealed to have been shot. There are no superfluous subplots, as even the comic relief is supplied by Warren Hymer's cab driver suspect, with others essayed by Onslow Stevens, Edward Van Sloan, and John Wray. The solution may come as a surprise, but seems perfectly logical, a fast moving, satisfactory 60 minutes. Top billing goes to forgotten actress Wynne Gibson (whose last film came in 1943), whose scarlet woman character apparently received an abortion through the late doctor, a plot device soon to disappear from cinema screens with the new censorship laws just going into effect when this feature was released. Alan Dinehart does well as the witty Inspector, and unbilled roles are played by Walter Brennan, Leon Ames, Harold Huber, and Paul Fix. Never part of Universal's SHOCK! television package from the late 50s, "The Crosby Case" nonetheless appeared twice on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, Sept 17 1977 (following 1943's "The Mad Ghoul") and June 18 1983 (solo).
8 Reviews
Universal whodunit
jaybee-326 May 1999
Wish there was a bit more of Crosby to understand why he gets it.
mark.waltz25 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Wynne Gibson is fascinating as always in this B murder mystery and gets some of the best dialog as she plays a hard-living dame who tries to escape New York City as a murder investigation for the allegedly sinister doctor who kept her gets underway. She was involved with Onslow Stevens, out of prison on trumped up charges, another suspect ironically in the only briefly seen doctor's murder. Stevens isn't bad, but is a rather ordinary leading man and doesn't share much chemistry with the fiery Gibson. An array of fascinating supporting characters helps this move along, especially Edward Van Sloan as a desperate scientist keeping to himself a horrible secret. Warren Hymer adds amusement as a bumbling cab driver who had the misfortune of running over the dying Crosby just as he was taking his last breath. Then, there's John Wray as a mob informant with sticky fingers and loose lips who fears being released into custody could mean his date with cement shoes.
This has a great build-up but a weak revelation defuses everything that happens before hand. For much of this Universal programmer, it reminds me of the type of film that James Whale was doing at the time, although it was Edwin Marin who directed it. A great cast of character actors includes some surprising bits, with Skeets Gallagher and Alan Dinehart as the law, Barbara Weeks as Gibson's not so loyal maid, and unbilled cameos by Mischa Auer and Walter Brennan. The build-up to the four suspects being brought together and how the law deals with them is fascinating to watch, and a confrontation scene between Gibson and Van Sloan is riveting, with a surprising flashback that truly is shocking. The final shot of the film after the disappointing conclusion is amusing, however, involving an ironic occurrence, and will give you one final laugh at one of the character's expense.
This has a great build-up but a weak revelation defuses everything that happens before hand. For much of this Universal programmer, it reminds me of the type of film that James Whale was doing at the time, although it was Edwin Marin who directed it. A great cast of character actors includes some surprising bits, with Skeets Gallagher and Alan Dinehart as the law, Barbara Weeks as Gibson's not so loyal maid, and unbilled cameos by Mischa Auer and Walter Brennan. The build-up to the four suspects being brought together and how the law deals with them is fascinating to watch, and a confrontation scene between Gibson and Van Sloan is riveting, with a surprising flashback that truly is shocking. The final shot of the film after the disappointing conclusion is amusing, however, involving an ironic occurrence, and will give you one final laugh at one of the character's expense.
Passable little crime drama that is a titular remake...
AlsExGal1 June 2019
... with the original "The Crosby Case" being a completely different movie made in the very early talkie era. The only thing they have in common is that both are murder mysteries.
The film opens on a man stumbling into the street and being hit by a careless cabbie, played by Warren Hymer. When the cabbie sees the man is dead he drives away, thinking he killed him.
Meanwhile the homicide detectives, headed by Police Inspector Thomas (Alan Dinehart), is trying to solve the murder of Dr. Crosby, who apparently was shot before the cabbie hit him. Whoever shot him must have been in a hurry because that person threw the gun on Crosby's desk. In Crosby's apartment the police find a single bedroom slipper....with a name on it? So pretty soon the police have rounded up the last patient to see Crosby alive based on an appointment book (Edward Van Sloan), the woman belonging to the bedroom slipper (Wynne Gibson), a random small time crook (John Wray), and the man who according to their records owned the gun that killed Crosby (Onslow Stevens). Each of these persons has something that they are trying to hide that has nothing to do with the murder, and so each is acting terribly guilty. So who did it? Watch and find out. It is briskly paced at only sixty minutes, and everybody does a good job. There are just some issues as to direction and police procedure that are weird.
When the police find out Crosby was shot, not just run over, they put his body back in his office. Do they plan to do the autopsy there? They mention Crosby is a "shady physician" known for malpractice more than practice, yet they never say what is meant by that. It might have been a more compelling drama if Crosby was not a corpse for the entire film. Finally there is some reporter hanging around in the inspector's office, so at home he puts his feet on the inspector's desk, yet he doesn't seem to want to scoop the murder and plays no part in solving the mystery at all. After the murder is solved he is STILL hanging around. That's pretty poor use of Skeets Gallagher, who was great with the clever biting quips over at Paramount.
What did I get about the era of 1934 by watching this film? First, police don't seem to use search warrants and have no problem with recording private conversations with no court oversight and nobody seems to care that they don't. Oh, and if you go blind in 1934, with no social safety net, some people at that time might think that they are better off dead. Shocking but true.
The film opens on a man stumbling into the street and being hit by a careless cabbie, played by Warren Hymer. When the cabbie sees the man is dead he drives away, thinking he killed him.
Meanwhile the homicide detectives, headed by Police Inspector Thomas (Alan Dinehart), is trying to solve the murder of Dr. Crosby, who apparently was shot before the cabbie hit him. Whoever shot him must have been in a hurry because that person threw the gun on Crosby's desk. In Crosby's apartment the police find a single bedroom slipper....with a name on it? So pretty soon the police have rounded up the last patient to see Crosby alive based on an appointment book (Edward Van Sloan), the woman belonging to the bedroom slipper (Wynne Gibson), a random small time crook (John Wray), and the man who according to their records owned the gun that killed Crosby (Onslow Stevens). Each of these persons has something that they are trying to hide that has nothing to do with the murder, and so each is acting terribly guilty. So who did it? Watch and find out. It is briskly paced at only sixty minutes, and everybody does a good job. There are just some issues as to direction and police procedure that are weird.
When the police find out Crosby was shot, not just run over, they put his body back in his office. Do they plan to do the autopsy there? They mention Crosby is a "shady physician" known for malpractice more than practice, yet they never say what is meant by that. It might have been a more compelling drama if Crosby was not a corpse for the entire film. Finally there is some reporter hanging around in the inspector's office, so at home he puts his feet on the inspector's desk, yet he doesn't seem to want to scoop the murder and plays no part in solving the mystery at all. After the murder is solved he is STILL hanging around. That's pretty poor use of Skeets Gallagher, who was great with the clever biting quips over at Paramount.
What did I get about the era of 1934 by watching this film? First, police don't seem to use search warrants and have no problem with recording private conversations with no court oversight and nobody seems to care that they don't. Oh, and if you go blind in 1934, with no social safety net, some people at that time might think that they are better off dead. Shocking but true.
I like these shady characters
greenbudgie26 March 2021
There are some likeable characters in this even though they're not quite of the straight and narrow kind. There's Lynn Ashton (Wynne Gibson) who is on her way to Bermuda before a Dr Crosby starts squawking about some jewels she might be taking with her. There's the cab driver Sam Collins (Warren Hymer) who is prepared to do a hit-and-run when he accidentally knocks down the same Dr Crosby on a kerbside. And there's nervous crook and squealer Willie McGuire (John Wray) who wants to be locked up by the police for his own safety. The story begins with the death of a shady doctor called Crosby. At first it seems as though he has been killed accidentally by a cab. Then a bullet wound is found in him. Professor Lubeck and a doorman both witness Lynn's ex-boyfriend on the spot at the time which makes him the chief suspect. Lynn is taken off the boat bound for Bermuda with some jewels and is under suspicion also. The plot includes mobsters and drug dealing and frame-ups. Edward Van Sloan plays a more feeble character than usual. He's Professor Lubeck who has a secret guilt and a disability that he tries to hide from others. My favorite funny moment is when Lynn is asked to open up her jewel box and she finds a switcheroo has been done on her by a tearful friend. There's nothing really outstanding about this Universal mystery but I enjoyed some of it's shady characters.
Poorly Constructed Mystery and Lack of Pre-Code Fun Sink This
boblipton10 April 2018
This is a late and shakily Pre-Code murder mystery that talks a better game than it shows. A shady doctor is shot and run over, so inspector Alan Dinehart rounds up the usual suspects, including Wynne Gibson, the doctor's mistress, suddenly taking ship to Europe; Onslow Stevens, Miss Gibson's old lover; and some potentially interesting actors, including Edward van Sloan, William Collier Sr., Edward Wray, J. Farrel MacDonald... and then director Edward L. Marin proceeds to move things along at a glacial pace, pulls clues out after announcing the murderer.
the Pre-Code touches are limited to our first glimpse of Miss Gibson, when she is dressed in her slip, but after that. there's far more implied than frankly stated. Given the lack of a well-constructed mystery and no salacious or frank amusements, this one looks like they tried to fix it for the small-town theaters without being asked, and butchered it in the process.
the Pre-Code touches are limited to our first glimpse of Miss Gibson, when she is dressed in her slip, but after that. there's far more implied than frankly stated. Given the lack of a well-constructed mystery and no salacious or frank amusements, this one looks like they tried to fix it for the small-town theaters without being asked, and butchered it in the process.
Good until the last five minutes
the_mysteriousx31 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
The Crosby Case has a lot of nice assets beginning with the great Frankenstein music over the opening credits. The actors are even billed as "Suspect No. 1" and "2", "The Detective" and so forth. It's a true ensemble piece. In fact, this film goes so far as to have no true main characters. The closest are the long lost lovers. Onslow Stevens is excellent and shows a side of him I hadn't seen before - this guy could have actually carried this picture as a male lead if given the chance. He was always an excellent character actor. Equally as good is the chameleon, John Wray. I had just watched Wray in "Doctor X" the day before and didn't even recognize him until halfway through. He was and is a truly underrated actor from the period. We forget that he was actually seriously considered to play Dracula in the 1931 classic.
Universal fans will also recognize the inimitable Edward Van Sloan as an old German man with poor eyesight. It was a nice surprise to see him evoke sympathy and for once he played a red herring. If Van Sloan wasn't playing a Van Helsing-type he was nearly always the "surprise" killer in these mystery films. He does a good job with the accent too.
The plot concerns a doctor who is shot and comes out a building and falls on the street as he is hit by a passing cab. The film moves along by studying little bits from many of these characters. The movie is almost less concerned with the mystery at times and spends a lot of time following a lot of small sub-stories involving these people. This is a refreshing turn. The only time this doesn't satisfy is in the the abrupt, and poor ending. Perhaps I viewed a print that was short - it was about 55 minutes - but, even so, there is not a good setup to reveal the killer. The motives in these films are usually pretty silly, but this one is just uninspired. There's no good rhyme or reason why the writers couldn't tie this one up better and the film is a bit confused at the the end as all of these characters whom we have just met, are equally being dealt abrupt conclusions. I won't get into more, but it simply does not work, nor does it serve the other 50 good minutes before it. The Crosby Case was right on track to get a 7 out of 10, until it veered completely off track and crashed into a gnarled wreck. Still, it's a good Universal B movie.
Universal fans will also recognize the inimitable Edward Van Sloan as an old German man with poor eyesight. It was a nice surprise to see him evoke sympathy and for once he played a red herring. If Van Sloan wasn't playing a Van Helsing-type he was nearly always the "surprise" killer in these mystery films. He does a good job with the accent too.
The plot concerns a doctor who is shot and comes out a building and falls on the street as he is hit by a passing cab. The film moves along by studying little bits from many of these characters. The movie is almost less concerned with the mystery at times and spends a lot of time following a lot of small sub-stories involving these people. This is a refreshing turn. The only time this doesn't satisfy is in the the abrupt, and poor ending. Perhaps I viewed a print that was short - it was about 55 minutes - but, even so, there is not a good setup to reveal the killer. The motives in these films are usually pretty silly, but this one is just uninspired. There's no good rhyme or reason why the writers couldn't tie this one up better and the film is a bit confused at the the end as all of these characters whom we have just met, are equally being dealt abrupt conclusions. I won't get into more, but it simply does not work, nor does it serve the other 50 good minutes before it. The Crosby Case was right on track to get a 7 out of 10, until it veered completely off track and crashed into a gnarled wreck. Still, it's a good Universal B movie.
Who is Guilty???
kidboots30 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers
By 1934 Wynne Gibson had more than fulfilled the faith that Paramount had shown in her when in 1932, after an impassioned plea for better pictures, they reversed the decision to drop her. But with the arrival of Mae West there was really only room for one brassy dame with a heart of gold - very occasionally Gibson's flinty dames showed a soft side (ie "Ladies of the Big House"), so Wynne was let go. Universal saw potential and instantly put her in the off beat "The Crosby Case" that experimented with a mosaic of flashbacks and flat cuts. When "Citizen Kane" was released seven years later those same innovations were labeled as new and exciting but back in 1933 Preston Sturge's "The Power and the Glory" experimented with stream of consciousness and exciting visuals. Other films hopped on the band wagon but the only studios willing to take a chance were the smaller ones or independents - "The Sin of Norah Moran" may be Majestic's most innovative film.
"The Crosby Case" opens much like Wynne's earlier "The Crime of the Century" (1933) - a man staggers down the street, a quack doctor with a bullet in his body - but who is guilty?? The victim is Dr. Crosby, a shady medico who is more familiar with mal practice suits than actually practicing - there are veiled allusions that he may be an abortionist and a drug dealer, as later a patient confesses (guiltily) that he needs his "medicine"!! and at only 59 minutes it packs a lot of punch!!
The cast list appears in a novel way with stars given the billing of "Suspect One", "Suspect Two" etc. Could it be the confused cabby (Warren Hymmer) who almost runs him down? Maybe it is Crosby's mistress, Lynne Ashton (Gibson) who is hot footing it out of town with all her jewels ("they weren't worth it"!!) or even her guilty looking best friend (Barbara Weeks) or is it Francis Graham (handsome Onslow Stevens) an aviator and former flame of Lynn's. Leon Waycoff (later Ames) has the almost "extra" role of Clifford Mulford who could have provided Graham with a much needed alibi but inconveniently went down with his plane. Another suspect who inadvertently drops Graham in it is "The Professor" (Edward Van Sloan) who has been visiting the doctor because of his headaches (he is almost blind) but when pushed by a disgruntled detective (Alan Dinehart, proving he could move with ease between slimy villains and jaded good guys) to make an identification, points to Graham as the culprit (even though all he sees is a blur). Or Willie the Squealer (John Wray, whose pop eyed looks made him a natural to play "crazies"!!). All the "usual suspects" are bought to the station where Graham agrees to help the police collar the real killer!!
Making the most of his small role is the flippant "Skeets" Gallagher as a reporter, as well as William Collier Snr. as yet another "had it up to here" detective and J. Farrell MacDonald as a hotel doorman.
"The Crosby Case" opens much like Wynne's earlier "The Crime of the Century" (1933) - a man staggers down the street, a quack doctor with a bullet in his body - but who is guilty?? The victim is Dr. Crosby, a shady medico who is more familiar with mal practice suits than actually practicing - there are veiled allusions that he may be an abortionist and a drug dealer, as later a patient confesses (guiltily) that he needs his "medicine"!! and at only 59 minutes it packs a lot of punch!!
The cast list appears in a novel way with stars given the billing of "Suspect One", "Suspect Two" etc. Could it be the confused cabby (Warren Hymmer) who almost runs him down? Maybe it is Crosby's mistress, Lynne Ashton (Gibson) who is hot footing it out of town with all her jewels ("they weren't worth it"!!) or even her guilty looking best friend (Barbara Weeks) or is it Francis Graham (handsome Onslow Stevens) an aviator and former flame of Lynn's. Leon Waycoff (later Ames) has the almost "extra" role of Clifford Mulford who could have provided Graham with a much needed alibi but inconveniently went down with his plane. Another suspect who inadvertently drops Graham in it is "The Professor" (Edward Van Sloan) who has been visiting the doctor because of his headaches (he is almost blind) but when pushed by a disgruntled detective (Alan Dinehart, proving he could move with ease between slimy villains and jaded good guys) to make an identification, points to Graham as the culprit (even though all he sees is a blur). Or Willie the Squealer (John Wray, whose pop eyed looks made him a natural to play "crazies"!!). All the "usual suspects" are bought to the station where Graham agrees to help the police collar the real killer!!
Making the most of his small role is the flippant "Skeets" Gallagher as a reporter, as well as William Collier Snr. as yet another "had it up to here" detective and J. Farrell MacDonald as a hotel doorman.
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