There are a few murder mystery tropes from the 30's I've had my fill of and "From Headquarters" had a couple of them.
1.) The perpetually wrong cop. Eugene Pallette seems to have written the book on the perpetually wrong cop. If jumping the gun were an Olympic event he'd have the world record. He did it in EVERY Philo Vance movie, he did it in "Strangers of the Evening" (1932), and he was doing it again in "From Headquarters." It was getting quite annoying. I wanted to say, "Please shut up and let the real detective solve the case."
2.) The cop who's a human lie detector. This is also bothersome. It's as if police didn't even need evidence, all they needed to do was question a suspect and they could divine if they're telling the truth. Well you know what, so could I. A beautiful woman = truthful. Crying while giving a statement = truthful. Swearing it's the truth = truthful. Stammering = lying. Sounding fake or rehearsed = lying. Deception must've been a thing unheard of in the 30's, or at least being good at deception was unheard of.
In "From Headquarters," Lieut. J. Stevens (George Brent) was the lead detective on the Bates murder case. The early suspects were Lou Winton (Margaret Lindsay) and her brother Jack Winton (Theodore Newton).
Well, you could throw them both out because early suspects are never the perpetrators. Furthermore, you could throw out Lou because 1.) she was a woman and 2.) Lieut. Stevens was in love with her. Women are hardly ever the murderers and they certainly aren't if the main character is in love with them (in the 30's that is).
We had to endure the gentle and fatherly detective who knew who was lying or not and who always had a correct "hunch." And we had to endure Sgt. Boggs (Eugene Pallette) being wrong time and time again all while staking his shield on his assertions. The only bright spot of the movie was the forensics. The scientist Dr. Van de Water (Edward Ellis) compared fingerprints, analyzed blood, did an autopsy, and checked for markings on bullets. He was indispensable, except he would insert his opinion into the investigation as well instead of just stating the facts.
2.99 on YouTube.
1.) The perpetually wrong cop. Eugene Pallette seems to have written the book on the perpetually wrong cop. If jumping the gun were an Olympic event he'd have the world record. He did it in EVERY Philo Vance movie, he did it in "Strangers of the Evening" (1932), and he was doing it again in "From Headquarters." It was getting quite annoying. I wanted to say, "Please shut up and let the real detective solve the case."
2.) The cop who's a human lie detector. This is also bothersome. It's as if police didn't even need evidence, all they needed to do was question a suspect and they could divine if they're telling the truth. Well you know what, so could I. A beautiful woman = truthful. Crying while giving a statement = truthful. Swearing it's the truth = truthful. Stammering = lying. Sounding fake or rehearsed = lying. Deception must've been a thing unheard of in the 30's, or at least being good at deception was unheard of.
In "From Headquarters," Lieut. J. Stevens (George Brent) was the lead detective on the Bates murder case. The early suspects were Lou Winton (Margaret Lindsay) and her brother Jack Winton (Theodore Newton).
Well, you could throw them both out because early suspects are never the perpetrators. Furthermore, you could throw out Lou because 1.) she was a woman and 2.) Lieut. Stevens was in love with her. Women are hardly ever the murderers and they certainly aren't if the main character is in love with them (in the 30's that is).
We had to endure the gentle and fatherly detective who knew who was lying or not and who always had a correct "hunch." And we had to endure Sgt. Boggs (Eugene Pallette) being wrong time and time again all while staking his shield on his assertions. The only bright spot of the movie was the forensics. The scientist Dr. Van de Water (Edward Ellis) compared fingerprints, analyzed blood, did an autopsy, and checked for markings on bullets. He was indispensable, except he would insert his opinion into the investigation as well instead of just stating the facts.
2.99 on YouTube.