gridoon2018 As far as I know, "Miss Pinkerton" is the only old-dark-house whodunit that Joan Blondell ever made (though she has played the amateur detective, as she does here, several times) (and maybe you could count "Topper Returns"). She's a joy, as always. The film employs nearly all the genre cliches (only a thunderstorm is missing), and has so many sinister characters that, as Blondell herself says to inspector George Brent, "You have arrested everyone in this cast except me!". There is so much plot to be covered in 65 minutes that you cannot afford not to pay attention or you'll be lost. If they had made another "Miss Pinkerton" film with the team of Blondell and Brent, I would watch it. **1/2 out of 4.

Richard Chatten Early on in this pre-Code murder mystery the gorgeous Joan Blondell laments the monotony of her existence as a nurse and asks how it can be relieved; promptly answering her own question as far as the audience is concerned by immediately shedding her uniform and slipping down to her scanties.But she soon gets enough excitement to last her a lifetime when sent to tend to a wealthy woman whose nephew has just been shot dead under suspicious circumstances (we see a remarkably realistic-looking police photograph of the corpse at one point). Based on a novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart, there's an awful lot of talk, and new characters keep showing up making the story harder to follow without making things any more interesting (the final denouement was so complicated and so laboriously explained verbally that I've already forgotten whodunit despite having seen it only a couple of hours ago).Director Lloyd Bacon and cameraman Barney McGill go out of their way to compensate for the general lack of action by including a lot of creeping about in the shadows and by smothering Jack Okey's magnificent Old Dark House set in eye-boggling compositions juggling weird camera angles and deep focus. John Wray as Hugo the butler is so relentlessly photographed on the tilt throughout the film to make him look sinister (not to mention constantly exchanging shifty glances with housekeeper Blanche Friderici) that we know he can't possibly be guilty; while Elizabeth Patterson as the matriarch on her deathbed looks dramatically different from anything else I've ever seen her in. The most remarkable single shot in the entire film is probably one of Blondell and George Brent sliding out of focus and into darkness as seen from the point of view of a character whose life is slipping away; although throughout the whole film the frequent close ups of Blondell are always more than enough to revive interest if things start to flag.

calvinnme ...specifically between Joan Blondell and George Brent. These are two players whose performances and films I generally enjoy immensely, but here the two just seem to be acting at each other rather than with each other. It's hard to describe unless you actually see it.Blondell plays a nurse in a hospital - Nurse Adams - who is bored with hospital routine. One night she gets picked by the head nurse to be private nurse for the night to an old woman who has had a terrible shock - the old woman found the body of her nephew shortly after he had been shot with his own gun. Was it suicide? Was it murder? If it was murder, what was the motive? These are the questions surrounding the mystery of the unnatural death of Herbert Wynn. There is also the complication of Herbert Wynn's life being insured for one hundred thousand dollars payable to his aunt, and that his family - once wealthy - is now on the verge of bankruptcy and ruin. So, there is just as much a motive for making the suicide look accidental - or like a murder - as there is reason for making any murder that has occurred look like a suicide or accident. Life insurance doesn't pay out for suicide.Enter George Brent, a police detective on the case that takes an immediate liking to Nurse Adams and dubs her "Miss Pinkerton". I could never really figure that one out, unless it has something to do with the famous Scottish detective whose name is often a pseudonym for detective. This is really an old dark house tale mixed in with elements of the Thin Man. From the old dark house side of things we have a creepy mansion with creepier inhabitants and mysterious locked rooms. From the Thin Man tradition of mysteries - which actually wasn't made for two years after this film - we have everybody shooting darting and knowing glances at everyone else and looking guilty and somewhat conspiratorial.The rather complex plot will keep you interested, but you'll likely be disappointed with the romance and partnership end of things between Blondell and Brent. They were both capable of having tremendous chemistry with other leading ladies and men, just not with each other and certainly not in this film. Recommended, but with reservations.

Norm-30 This is a typical "old house" film.....a black-clad figure that throws gigantic shadows on the walls, a secret entrance, all the characters "creeping around", a creepy butler, and all the rest!It's interesting that they use some of the same sets for that other fantastic "old house" film, Dr. X. (Most notably, the upstairs hall & the kitchen).Some people would say this film is "slow moving", but that is done deliberately to increase the creepy "something-is-about- to-happen" feeling.As an aside, it's remarkable that the actress who plays the sick old lady looks really OLD in this film, but in Bob Hope's "Cat & the Canary" (filmed almost 10 years later, as the Aunt) looks MUCH younger! She had one heck of a make-up job in THIS film!If you love "old house" films, don't miss it!