The Penguin Pool Murder

Watch: The Penguin Pool Murder

12/9/19321h 10m

Theatrical Release (US)

Overview:

New York schoolmarm Hildegarde Withers assists a detective when a body of unscrupulous stockbroker Gerald Parker suddenly appears in the penguin tank at the aquarium.

Director:

George Archainbaud

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

infidelity
pickpocket
aquarium
homicide
amateur detective
deaf-mute
penguin
murder
stockbroker
pre-code
police investigation
murder investigation
schoolteacher
police inspector
false arrest
amateur sleuth
clues
purse snatcher

Cast

Edna May Oliver

~ as ~

Hildegarde Withers

James Gleason

~ as ~

Police Insp. Oscar Piper

Robert Armstrong

~ as ~

Barry Costello

Mae Clarke

~ as ~

Gwen Parker

Donald Cook

~ as ~

Philip Seymour

Edgar Kennedy

~ as ~

Officer Donovan

Clarence Wilson

~ as ~

Bertrand B. Hemingway

James Donlan

~ as ~

Security Guard Fink

Gustav von Seyffertitz

~ as ~

Von Donnen

William Le Maire

~ as ~

MacDonald

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 2 year(s) ago
7
There is something Marple-esque about Edna May Oliver's portrayal of the meticulous, no-nonsense, schoolteacher "Miss Withers". There's also something hideous about some of the fish in the aquarium where the police discover the corpse of the pretty universally disliked "Parker". It turns out that his wife (Mae Clarke) has a boyfriend (Donald Cook), and that both were present at the time of death. Looks like a bit of a no-brainer for "Insp. Piper" (James Gleason) but his chance meeting with the razor-sharp mind of the prim and proper "Withers" soon makes him think again. Despite his initially polite disdain, he realises that she is quite an insightful assistant as this turns out to be anything but as straightforward as everyone had hoped. The mystery itself is also very much in the vein of Agatha Christie - loads of red herrings and a victim about as popular as toothache. The production is kept moving along by some pacy direction and some pithy banter between the two investigators. Will they get to the bottom or not? Never in doubt, but not really important - this is a drama about characters and Oliver and Gleason gel well and engagingly for seventy minutes of sparring, spatting and... solving.