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Undescribable Perfection

Nice effects though.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Rating is a B/B+, about 8 stars. 10 stars given to balance out the loser reviews. Current 5.4 rating is a joke. Here's the deal. We have a convoluted mystery, which was a bit tough to follow. Beyond that we have some decent acting all around. Good humor. The best was when the black maid didn't was sitting in a convertible outside the morgue, and she asked why they were there. The cop said, you're here to identify a dead person. She said no she won't go. The copy says it's either that or I'll put you in jail. She says, I'd rather be in jail with live people than in the morgue with dead people. Then, the boss cop comes in and says we have someone else to identify the dead person and that you can go. The maid hightails it out of the car and runs back up the street and almost gets run over by another car. This scene alone is worth watching this film. There are tons of intelligent dialogue here. The terror element comes from the Janitor as the killer. We see him bring Ginger Rodgers to the basement to the basement and to put her in the furnace. This is all great stuff. The movie is slow in parts. And as mentioned the mystery is a bit convoluted with different murders. But it all works well. It's entertaining. It is a comedy thriller mystery. It works. They could have made this full on thriller mystery without the convoluted story by just concentrating on a psycho janitor. That could have worked too. But this is what we have.

When millionaire philanthropist falls from the top of a luxury apartment it is a mystery; did he fall, did he jump or was the pushed? The first person questioned is the dead man's secretary she claims to have no idea what happened and suggests the police talk to the maid; however she does warn them that the is a little dumb. The maid claims she may have heard a hissing noise but isn't certain. As the police discuss matters a reporter, Ted Rand, bluffs his way into the apartment… he isn't the first reporter there though; the secretary. Pat Morgan, is actually a reporter too. She had been investigating her employer and knew a lot more than she told the police. Unfortunately for her as the calls in the story she doesn't realise she is telling the story to her rival on the other phone rather than her paper. She gets the sack and is determined to get her revenge on Rand, who she was once involved with.As the story progresses more people die and motives start to emerge. It seems the dead man was involved with the woman in the apartment below and when she is found dead suspicion falls on the husband… although there are other dodgy characters about; including the mob. As Morgan digs deeper into the story she puts herself in real danger.At just over an hour in length this film doesn't outstay its welcome. There is a nice mystery with a reasonable number of suspects. While it is listed as a comedy it is better to think of it as a drama with a few comical moments as there are few real laughs to be had…if you don't include some of the overacting by secondary characters! Leads Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot are likable as Morgan and Rand. Given the fairly light tone to much of the film its ending gets quite dark; it looked as though Morgan was going to be incinerated by the villain… even though it was unlikely to actually happen this proved quite tense. Overall a pretty good film; it may be a bit crackly but the story is quite fresh.

A dummy falls from a balcony(..actually it's supposed to represent a man, but many will giggle a little at how unrealistic it is with the flailing arms as the body impacts with pavement)and detectives consider it possible homicide. The man who fell to his doom, a Mr Harker, had a temporary secretary, Patricia Morgan(Giner Rogers)working in his apartment who in fact is a reporter infiltrating the man's privacy trying to uncover his ties to a gangster, Joe Martini(Maurice Black). It's soon discovered by Inspector Russell(Purnell Pratt)that Harker was perhaps thrown off a balcony in his lover's room. The female lover was found strangled(..but we see a person's silhouette with a mask cutting off the gas, telling us that it's in fact a mystery assassin attempting to throw detectives off the scent)and later her husband, Mr. Colby, police's number one suspect, is found dead, potentially of suicide. Patricia has the scoop, but her current(..well, sort of)boyfriend, Ted Ford(Lyle Talbot)steals her story, having her believe that he's from her newspaper. Losing her job when the big story turns up on the front page, almost word for word the way she had intended, of Ted's newspaper, Patricia will coordinate a relationship with Russell, remaining in Harker's Penthouse sweet, attempting to discover any possible evidence that might provide a link to the killer's identity. Meanwhile, Ted tries to make nice, forging a team with Patricia to solve the mystery. A letter from the killer(..to Harker, found hidden in a small compartment in a dresser drawer) is discovered by his always-hysterical housekeeper, Augusta(Lillian Harmer, in a hideous performance, as the comedy relief but it's excruciatingly forced and over the top to a ridiculous degree)which relates to an innocent cabbie sent to the chair for a murder of someone who was rivals with Harker. Acting suspiciously is the apartment's janitor, Peterson(Harvey Clark)who we see feeding a recording of a shrieking woman's voice into the ventilation to mask the sound of another killing. The janitor also has skeleton keys to every room and sneaks around like a mouse, not to mention that he listens on conversations made between Patricia and Ted..why would he be so interested? It's only a matter of time, despite Ted's efforts to keep her safe, until Patricia's life will be threatened as she gets too close to the truth.Okay little murder mystery designed as a star vehicle for the always charming and illuminating Ginger Rogers. She re-teams with Lyle Talbot(..they worked beautifully together in THE THIRTEENTH GUEST)and they have great chemistry which certainly helps rise this above it's rather decent, but unremarkable, presentation. Pratt comes off a jackass as the detective, always insulting somebody, never listening to his partner, Wilfred(Arthur Hoyt), for whom he considers an idiot. Actually, Wilfred, a very timid, meek, quiet little fellow, helps out a great deal when Russell gives him a chance to talk. Wilfred's bravery at the end resulting in a scuffle with the killer is a nice scene that allows him to be the hero as others are upstairs looking for clues. The plot is rather complex even though the killer's identity could be guessed relatively soon through obvious clues.. the finger in pointed in one direction early and never relinquishes it, so I think that's a failure in Albert Ray's work as director, not to produce effective red herrings that would keep us guessing. As a Ginger Rogers movie, I do think it succeeds, but that could be because I personally love her in practically everything. And, the unflappable, extremely likable Talbot lends great support. Some of the comedy bits with the housekeeper(..and another black stereotype, played by Louise Beavers, the maid frightened of morgues and dead people, is provided for African-Americans to cringe)are really irritating, though. Those accustomed with cinema at this time can probably adjust to the dead air that often exists making scenes between characters seem like lengthly affairs.

Ginger Rogers made lots of movies when she was just starting out. But for every "42nd Street" (1933) or "The Gay Divorcée" (1934) there was a "Broadway Bad" (1933) or a "Hat Check Girl" (1932). From the start she was determined to be noticed and by very hard work and a cute personality - she was!!!Ginger and Lyle Talbot make a cute team as rival reporters trying to get the scoop on a would-be suicide. They actually dated in real life, so I read.A scream (or yell) is heard, a body falls to the pavement and so this comedy mystery begins. Ginger plays Pat Morgan, Mr. Harker's (the dead man) live-in secretary. She is really a reporter put in as a plant to find out if Harker was really a phlanthrophist or an under- world figure. Lillian Harmer provides some laboured comedy relief as Mr. Harker's maid.More bodies turn up - Mrs. Colby, in the apartment that Mr. Harker met his death -and Mr. Colby is also found dead. The janitor (Harvey Clark) is acting suspicious - continually cutting the power supply to the different apartments so he can snoop around. Maurice Black, who often played ethnic types, is the gangster Martini. Arthur Hoyt plays Wilfred, the chief detective's right hand man, who is the butt of much of the humour. Louise Beavers has a small part as the Colby's maid.It is all explained in the end but not before Ginger almost ends up in a fiery grave.