Critical Moments

It was last Tuesday night that I saw “Murder on the Blackboard” at the Rialto and if you remember, it was a wet, dismal evening with the rain sweeping up and down Broadway as though some gigantic comedian had gotten hold of a tremendous hose and set out to see how uncomfortable he could make people feel. Even the bright lights of Broadway blinked through the mist with a subdued glow that made them look as unimportant as they really are. It was one of those nights in which the setting seemed perfect for a murder and being by nature a law-abiding person with the usual number of repressions, my thoughts naturally turned to things of horror and gore.

Perhaps these circumstances accounted for my enjoyment of “Murder on the Blackboard,” a film produced by RKO and adapted from the detective novel by Stuart Palmer, but even had the night been a perfect June evening I think I would still have enjoyed Edna May Oliver, who plays the part of a school “marm” who can teach the police a thing or two. Miss Oliver, who has been around for a good many years, has never received the recognition she deserves. She is one of the ablest and most natural of the elderly women on the screen. Her work in the present film should do much to gain her a host of new admirers.

NOT GHASTLY

Unlike most Hollywood mysteries that reach the screen, “Murder on the Blackboard” contains a minimum of horrors and screams. It concerns, as you might guess, a puzzling murder. The police, led by the slow-thinking police inspector (James Gleason) attempt to solve the murder but it is heckling and penetrating inquiries by the school teacher (Miss Oliver) that bring the perpetrator of the dastardly deed to light. As the title indicates a blackboard is an important clue in this rather unusual and ingenious yarn. Of course Miss Oliver is able to decipher the bars of music found written on the blackboard and when she has done that, there is a mystery no longer.

Your enjoyment of this film would be spoiled if I were to tell you more about the plot. Be satisfied to know that “Murder on the Blackboard” is exciting, entertaining and amusing.

THE SCREEN THIS COMING WEEK; OTHER NOTES

“Let’s Try Again,” with Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook, is the feature at Music Hall this week. At the Strand, Kay Francis is being starred in her latest, “Dr. Monica.” “Operator 13,” with Marion Davies and Gary Cooper, is the offering at the Capitol, but more about these pictures anon….

“The World in Revolt,” the super-news reel, was pulled out of the Rialto after a one-week run but Zasu Pitts, in “Private Scandal,” has been held over for a second week at the Mayfair….

Paul Muni, who has been inactive of late, will soon be seen in a new picture, called “Black Hell.” Little is known about this vehicle, except that is has been adapted from two stories….

At the Embassy News Reel Theatre this week one of the shots shows King Carol of Rumania making one of his public appearances. While he walks through the streets, heavily guarded, you can hear distinctly the boos and jeers of the crowd above the cheering….