waking into a dream journal 01.15.08

this morning's "oh, yeah? sez who?"
mystery house
director: noel m. smith // 1938
cinema 4 rating: 5

i've said it before, and i shall reiterate, i am not really a mystery guy -- i don't mind them, and i did read a lot of agatha christie and doyle as a kid, but i've never really been all that concerned with plot and motives and whatnot -- jen can watch mysteries nonstop for days and be thoroughly entertained but i've always found them somewhat monotonous -- which is strange considering some of the admitted dreck i do find entertaining -- perhaps i relate to monsters and animals more for their inherent innocence, even when committing a terrible (from our angle) transgression against some other creature -- with people, i've always assumed that everyone is guilty of something -- it's never been "who done it?" with me, but rather "who didn't?" -- so, we have this little detective novelty from the late '30s, the age where everyone, even the non-guilty, talk tough and fast in every scene, like there is some sort of prize for being proven innocent last -- dick purcell, as the p.i., and ann sheridan, resplendent in a tight-fitting nurse's outfit, have real chemistry in this extremely short (56 minutes) filler -- works o.k. as a mystery, but if everyone didn't instantly start yelling and acting defensive when people just walk into a room, it wouldn't be such a headache -- of course, nowadays, with our crime scene scouring units, calling in a p.i. in this situation would be unthinkable -- besides, he himself commits several bonehead acts that would also be no-nos today -- "oh, let me pick up this broken necklace with my handkerchief very carefully, but, oh! what's this? a pistol lying next to it? let me just manhandle that right away!" -- not that the gun had anything to do with it, but you get the drift -- jen does have me watching poirot and columbo once in a while, so maybe there is hope for me yet...