skinnybert

Oh, it's all busy enough -- and it seemed all right the first time we saw it. But on second run-through, it reminds me of Tintin's Castafiore adventure, in that the characters are all a bit ... off.

Take Miss Fisher herself: heretofore supremely, almost supernaturally capable and confident. But now she's unmoored by the exasperating presence of her father -- in fact, the entire plot for this episode depends upon the fact that she did not adequately see to his departure. Travis' Bert is reduced to little more than delivery boy (though Cec gets in a small bit). Dot is struggling against a replacement constable (continuing from the previous episode), which is realistic but serves no purpose and develops no character; Ashleigh Williams simply looks unhappy going through with it, and we are left to conclude that Johnstone-Burt was unavailable for filming.

Otherwise it leans heavily on the men-can't do-things-right-unless-a-woman helps, which is favored by the series generally; the difference here being the lack of of any positively interesting aspects to balance/excuse that. Which is too bad, because the acting is fine, and the scenery exquisite -- as usual. Best watched while drowsing in and out of consciousness, so as not to notice the plot lapses.

First: every other review manages to get some details wrong, so don't believe everything you read in reviews (including this one).

Second: I read all three Penrod books last year (2024), and this movie is not from any of them. While it's not unusual to make some differences in a movie adaptation, this is really an entirely original story, using the same names and circumstances. For a movie which actually represents those books, see the 1931 PENROD AND SAM.

Third: don't be offended by African-American roles, when watching them 90 years later. Delia is shown as hard-working and authoritative, Verman is shown as receiving (and deserving) the full loyalty of his fellows -- even though he is much younger.

Fourth: Yes, his name is Verman (or didn't you read the books?). And absolutely nobody makes fun of him for it. Would the real world be so kind .... Now that we've handled 21st-century political intrigue, shall we see this as a movie? It's kiddie fare, with about as much reality as Gomer Pyle. Despite that, the adults manage to pull some dignity out of their line reads, and there's no denying the charisma of the junior leads. It isn't great cinema, but it is tightly paced with enough varying shots to keep it from being too dull. Like most junior movies of this time, the juniors seem more like little adults than kids -- and the adults sometimes seem little more adult than the kids. But Frank Craven really elevates the father-son dynamic, and the mother figures all come across with believable dignity. At 64 minutes, it largely feels like two episodes of a TV series thrown together, like a 1930s Leave It To Beaver.

OK, you've got your based-on-the-books TV series: it's running well, everyone's enjoying doing it. But there are only so many books, and you've all all these bit roles ... Wouldn't it be great to end the season with a holiday-themed episode that somehow included every semi-regular character?

And so we have this. Unfortunately, it has the hallmarks of the Straining-for-a-story murder mystery: move to an exotic location, cobble up a reason to isolate the cast (in this case, the weather), and then start killing people off, Ten Little Indians style. It's the kind of story that makes sense only to people who already have a steady diet of murder mysteries. The similarities to Agatha Christie's classic story go much farther than that, but why put spoilers? There's really nothing here except the gosh-wow of Magic Plot Developments, and nothing memorable for anyone to do.

Oh, I guess I can give you this: At the end, the killer confesses all. And you won't care -- about any of it. "Exhibit A" of hack murder-mystery writing.