jonfrum2000 Apparently, one reviewer didn't read the earlier reviews before writing his entry. As other reviewers pointed out, Zasu Pitts didn't talk like Olive Oyl - Olive Oyl's voice was modeled on hers! This was a comedy/mystery, and Zasu Pitts was one of the most popular comediennes of her time. She was a star of silent films, and her voice and manners transferred successfully to the talkies, where she was a big star, and favorite of audiences. Her 'whining' was her shtick, and audiences loved her for it.The role played by Zasu Pitts in this, and many other films, is actually almost identical to the one played by Stepin Fetchit and Mantan Moreland. Zasu is a whimpering, cowardly fool - played for obvious comic relief. Of course, she was a white woman, so no one mentions the obvious connection. If she had played Charlie Chan's maid, she would have fit right into the Birmingham Brown role.The plot in this film is clunky, and the acting a bit stiff and caricatured, but it was made in 1932, and they were still trying to figure out how to make talkies. Watched with that in mind, The Crooked Circle is quite enjoyable.*** After over a year, and with a second viewing, I'm back to add a few comments. It's interesting that even at the very beginning of the old dark house genre, humor was already an essential part of the mix. One might think that the setting would have featured horror/mystery films, but Hollywood had already figured out that to sell a film to the largest audience possible, it was best to mix genre elements. Thus, we get a murder mystery set in a semi-Gothic atmosphere, with more than one comic relief character. This film did have the other common element, an attractive young couple in the romantic role, but that element played only a small role here. If it was a murder mystery without the old dark house, they might have added a musical number as well. Something for the boys, the men, and the ladies and girls, all in one. Personally, I find the humor far overdone here, and would much prefer a straight Gothic thriller, but I've learned to get along with the humor over time. The policeman-as-fool was played rather hard here, the price you have to pay to get the rest of the story. I still give this a six out of ten on second viewing, but I can see where audiences would have enjoyed it at the time.

kidboots James Gleason and Zasu Pitts, first introduced in "Oh Yeah" (1929), were reunited for "The Crooked Circle". Tough no nonsense Gleason and fluttering, daffy Pitts - completely opposite in temperament but together they work wonders. This little movie also boasts a superlative cast with Ben Lyon (equally at home in As and programmers) and Irene Purcell, who had just been the leading lady in Paramount's "Million Dollar Legs" (everyone was a winner in that movie)!! Combining a mixture of gags, frights and plenty of action (director H. Bruce Humberstone had tried it before in his directorial debut, "Strangers of the Evening" and found it worked) this is about the goings on of a criminal secret society called "The Crooked Circle", who meet at an old mansion called "Melody Manor"!!Brand Osbourne (Ben Lyon) is resigning from the Sphinx Club at the urging of his new love, Thelma (Irene Purcell). The Sphinx Club is an amateur band of crime fighters whose aim is to try to expose The Crooked Circle members. Colonel Wolters (Berton Churchill) has just received a death threat and Yoganda (C. Henry Gordon), a new member, suggests they all spend the night guarding him. The film really picks up the pace when the Sphinx members arrive at Melody Manor - clocks strike 13, tables move, pianos play ghostly music, - even weird old men come knocking at the door in the middle of the night with gifts of tomatoes!!!! It also gives Zasu Pitts, as Nora, the frightened housekeeper, a chance to bring out her bag of tricks - fluttering hands, whiney voice. James Gleason plays Crimmer, a cranky, bumbling motorcycle cop who is called to the "old dark house" to investigate Wolter's murder (it looks as though he wasn't guarded enough)!!!! Brand also has to contend with a stranger breaking into his apartment and his butler taking the stranger's side when the police are called. He meets the stranger (Robert Frazer) again at Melody Manor and also has suspicions about Yoganda and Thelma!!!Apart from Robert Frazer, who was such a success in "White Zombie" there were a few stars of the silent screen with roles in this movie. Ethel Clayton was a Lubin star from 1912 until the company folded in 1916 but she never stopped working - even if it was only in roles like Yvonne. Paul Panzer, who had terrorized Pearl White in "The Perils of Pauline" - was a member of the Circle.Recommended.

missrebeckah If you've never experienced the thing that is Zasu Pitts, here is a Zasu zinger! In 1933 Mae Questel caricatured Pitt's voice for the character Olive Oyl for the Fleischer Studios animated cartoon version of the comic strip Popeye. Zasu (pronounced Zay-Sue) does her best "Olive Oyl" impersonation walking around whining and ringing her hands or attaching herself to the policeman's laynard. I kept waiting for her to say "ohhh myyyy", but instead it's "something always happens to somebody." The first time I saw this film I loved Zasu and found her character really funny. I've since seen her in other films where she does this same whining, uptight, fragile-flower routine. So, upon watching this film again I started getting a little annoyed with the constant whining and near hysteria over a piece of dust. But, there are some funny comedy bits here, and it's also a mystery movie as well. It's an interesting mix of mystery and comedy that actually works. The mystery plot holds together well through the camp of Zasu Pitts and James Gleason who plays Arthur Crimmer the policeman. The haunted House is fun with many a secret passage and even a skeleton in the attic! Well worth the watch. Read more public domain movie reviews at: http://pdmoviereview.blogspot.com/

reptilicus The "old dark house" sub-genre that dominated the early talkies rarely fails to disappoint when we re-view the oldies to-day. Here is one that provides so very many suspicious characters you have to wonder how they will be able to tie up all the loose ends in the 6 reel running time.The Crooked Circle is a gang of counterfeiters and thieves who have decided to take revenge on Col. Walters (Berton Churchill) who has sent one of their ranks to prison. They decide he must die that very night. Meanwhile the Colonel's own group, The Sphinx Club, is determined to protect him at all costs. This does not sit well with Thelma (Irene Purcell) fiancée of club member Brand Osborne (Ben Lyon, late of the mega-budgeted HELL'S ANGELS (1930)) who wants him to quit the club and stop endangering his own life. Brand promises to resign after saving the colonel's life. Everyone heads off to Walters newly purchased mansion on Long Island to await the assassin.The Colonel might be the new owner of Melody Manor but it's an old dark house complete with eccentric neighbours (like Raymond Hatton as a local hermit) and maybe even a ghost. Top billed Zasu Pitts is Nora, the housekeeper who expects to see a spirit around every corner. Throw in a cop (James Gleason) who is certain Brand is a criminal and we have a picture which is packed with action and surprises.You will notice right away that the script writer was at a loss to come up with too much dialog because a lot of characters repeat the same lines over and over. Yoganda (C. Henry Gordon) a Hindu mystic (which movies of that time were loaded with) says "Evil is on the way." many times and I lost count of how often Ms. Pitts says "Something always happens to somebody!". There are many suspects and two characters (Mr. Gleason as the stereotype dumb cop and Roscoe Karns as Mr. Lyon's pal) who serve as comedy relief. The house itself is appropriately spooky looking (in fact I think the same set was used in THE PHANTOM (1931)) with lots of secret passages and violin music coming out of empty rooms but somehow you never really get a feeling of danger. Maybe it's because no one in the movie, and I do mean no one!, is entirely what they seem to be. It all comes out right in the end though; but to go into any more detail would spoil it for you.Watch carefully for Robert Frazer (from WHITE ZOMBIE) and Frank Reicher (best remembered as Capt. Engelhorn from KING KONG) to pop up among the suspects.THE CROOKED CIRCLE is a fun film. Some aspects of the plot are predictable and then again several others are not. I suspect you will enjoy it.