DKosty123 This movie is very much a low budget RKO special. By 1937 the money from King Kong was beginning to die out. Still the beginning of the movie is such a hoot that I had fun with it. Girls finishing school named Dimsdale Hall? What is the message there? Marjorie Lord lecturing the girls on being finished..err.. polished at the school. Then the evils of that swing music her finance plays? Oh my, this is quite a pickle.Then the humor slows down as we get a murder. Alfred Hitchcock this is not. there is fun though. Just relax on the serious part and enjoy the rest. Marjorie Lord can sing before she got Rusty Hammered on make room for daddy with that Danny Williams guy.

Neil Doyle EDNA MAY OLIVER is the missing ingredient in this feeble murder mystery with JAMES GLEASON as Inspector Piper attending a theater with his friend ZASU PITTS (as Hildegarde Withers), but soon in charge of investigating a double murder.This backstage comedy/mystery tries to follow the pattern of other such mysteries featuring Gleason and Edna May Oliver, but fails to register strongly enough in either the laugh department or the serious stuff.It has the feel of a low-budget programmer shot in ten days with no chance for character development or original plotting. Even revelation of the murderer is handled in such a low-key way that any viewer will be half asleep before the solution even occurs.Not recommended for fans of this series.

tedg I watch these because the 30's was a period of experimentation with narrative form, from which we invented a few new things. What remains is a Burgess Shale deposit of narrative models that for some reason were left behind. One of the more interesting of these is this model. You've likely seen it a dozen times in detective stories from this era.A homicide detective just happens to be at a play. A murder occurs, then another as the investigation is underway but the play goes on. Required elements include: a doofus; a prop gun apparently used in a real murder during the play; a space under the stage; love affairs, betrayal and blackmail.Optional but highly desirable is some reference to authorship; here it is the disclosure that the play we see is purloined, as of course it is. At one point our woman detective looks at the audience and remarks on the play within the play, and the joke is that she does it in the play within the play within the play.By this time the Hildegard Withers franchise was completely worn out. There's scant humor and what we have are recycled jokes. One example: while investigating in the space under the stage, Zasu hooks her dress on a coat of armor. These always must have been carefully placed on a wheeled platform because they always follow their hapless target around comically.This would be the last of the Hildegard films. And viewers would soon say goodbye to the play-murder form, designed in part to give us a few songs to fill in for the usually thin plot. But this play, stage, murder business would stick as something to reference instead of use directly. "The Illusionist" used it in the story within the story within the story, (complete with stage basement) in order to fool the respective audiences about a murder.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

ejrjr RKO Radio Pictures released Forty Naughty Girls during 1937 to capitalize on Showgirls of 1934. Unfortunately, the script does not afford the actors nor director much opportunity and the result is perfunctory and at times pedestrian.James Gleason is Homicide Inspector Oscar Piper out with girlfriend Hildegard Withers played by Zasu Pitts, at a Broadway performance of Forty Naughty Girls, produced by Ricky Rickman. Murders commence shortly after the play opening. Oscar and Hildegard move from the audience to backstage investigations.Quickly we learn that publicist Edward "Windy" Bennett is having an affair with leading lady Rita Marlowe played by Joan Woodbury, who has just become engaged to producer Rickman. Also, Windy Bennett is extorting money from playwright Tommy Washburn. And, then Windy Bennett is found dead, shot in the back of the head.Subsequently, Washburn is shot and killed. Rita Marlowe is the initial suspect and then the evidence points to a stagehand who happens to be her father.Since this film has a running time of only 63 minutes, action propels the plot and there are numerous twists and turns. However, none move you to the edge of your seat. Director Eddie Cline must have had a tight shooting schedule because this is a proverbial race to the finish line. While casually amusing the story suffers from numerous shortcomings especially character development. Also, the humor barely rises above simple.Marjorie Lord as showgirl and singer June Preston is adequate which is dictated by the script.This was never intended to be anything more than a second feature and that is all it will ever be. Nothing bad, nothing great.