A crime-comedy, with Jack Oakie very personable as a movie detective who is short on brains. Famous actors are getting poison pen letters, which we learn quickly are from house-of-horrors owner Eduardo Ciannelli, whose motive seems to be revenge for bad acting. Oakie gets such a letter announcing he'll be killed, so he goes to Ciannelli, his friend, and says he knows who sent it! It's the one sending all those poison pen letters. That's the level of Oakie's intelligence (and the level of the comedy in the script). Ciannelli has lots of opportunities to kill Oakie, including with a rifle with a gunsight. The comedy comes from Oakie, his servant, Willie Best (again shamefully stereotyped), and the hapless police inspector, Edgar Kennedy. Ann Sothern seems wasted as Oakie's publicity manager.
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atlasmb23 June 2022Jack Oakie stars as movie star Willard Martin and Ann Sothern plays girlfriend Mary Strand, who happens to be Willard's PR rep. Willard is played like a cartoon character, and the film is humorous and hokey, light-weight comedic fare.
The basic conceit is that Willard, who plays a formidable crime solver in the movies, confuses his role with reality. He gets into a war of words with local police authorities over a recent crime, thinking he can do everything better than they. Meanwhile, a strange little man starts sending death threats to Willard.
Mary works overtime to save Willard from his oversized ego, trying to simultaneously keep her job and keep him safe.
The two stars are a joy to watch. When Oakie mugs for the camera, it fits the cartoonish theme of the film. And it feels like a parody of other film heroes, especially those who appear in the episodic cliffhangers of the day. -
bkoganbing12 December 2018Before Jack Carson came along, the biggest blowhard on screen was Jack Oakie. Super Sleuth was a perfect Jack Oakie vehicle. In it he plays a blowhard actor who is a detective in films and of course he solves the crime. Somewhere in that walnut size brain of his, Oakie has gotten the idea he's the real deal.
Studio secretary Ann Sothern tries to keep him somewhat ground in reality but to no avail. He insists that he will solve a string of murders to someone who writes nasty notes to his targets. And of course show up the police who are represented by Edgar Kennedy at his slow burning best.
No mystery here as it is real obvious who is doing the deeds. But there are some funny moments in Super Sleuth.
Definitely one typical Jack Oakie film. -
dougdoepke27 January 2009Great chance for moon-faced comedian Jack Oakie to mug it up for an hour or so. He's a movie detective at a Hollywood studio in what's obviously a spoof of movie sleuths so popular at the time. Never mind that his Willard Martin is a 30-watt bulb in a 60-watt world. Martin has convinced himself he's the greatest actor since Barrymore, so it's fun to watch him bumble along head held high even as his rear-end sags. Still, Oakie manages the egotistical character without making him obnoxious.
It's a slender exercise that has someone trying to kill Martin because they didn't like his last movie what inspired motivation! Still, the screenplay should have made a mystery of the public-spirited culprit instead of tipping us off so early. That would have added an extra element of comical suspense. Anyway, the lovely Ann Sothern is a studio flack who has her hands full keeping the bumbler out of trouble, while trying to stay away from Prof. Herman's house of horrors. Maybe the best parts are the behind-the-scenes look at movie-making on a sound stage and on location. Paul Guilfoyle breaks from his usual wacky characters to play the no-nonsense movie director, of all things. The wind-up is a whirlwind slapstick through the professor's museum, making this a lively if slender glimpse of the bottom-of-the-bill, 1930's style. -
planktonrules27 July 2015In "Super-Sleuth", Jack Oakie plays an actor who plays movie detectives and is a fat-head and numb-skull. He thinks he's smarter than the police and he inexplicably insists on solving the Poison Pen murders all by himself--even though he's one of the killer's intended victims. Along the way, Oakie mugs and overacts in the way that folks loved back in the day--mostly because he didn't seem to take himself very seriously. Despite knowing NOTHING about solving crimes and mostly making a nuisance of himself through most of the film, he ends up stumbling into the solution--all by dumb luck (it sure ain't intelligence!).
The solution to the crime is incredibly easy. So why did it take everyone to finally figure out that the creepy guy (Eduardo Cianelli) was behind it all?! Also, the scene with the gun near the end of the film is pretty stupid--and NO actor is that stupid and the f wax works section is pretty dumb!! Still, the film is amiable if not particularly surprising. Oakie's style is pleasant and the film modestly entertaining. -
SnoopyStyle15 June 2022In Hollywood, Bill Martin (Jack Oakie) plays a detective on film. He gets into a feud with the real police. Studio publicist Mary Strand (Ann Sothern) isn't happy with him either although she does really like him. He starts getting creepy fan letters from "The Poison Pen". With a killer targeting him, he and Mary go to amateur sleuth Professor Herman (Eduardo Ciannelli) for help.
Bill Martin is somewhat a self-obsessed boob. I don't hate him but I don't love him either. With a bit of well placed charms, he could be a passable romantic lead. Oakie needs some work. Sothern is doing all the work in the relationship. The hair piece is the funniest gag but it's the Lieutenant. There is still some fun to be had. -
Jack Oakie is a movie star, best known for a series of detective movies. He's so good in the role that he believes his own publicity and starts a feud with the police department. Then comes the anonymous threatening letter....
Oakie is his usual not-too-bright blowhard, and this RKO programmer shows him at his best, even though his leading-man status wouldn't last much longer; he would have a nice career as best man's buddy in all those brightly lit Fox musicals. With Anne Sothern, Eduardo Cianelli, Edgar Kennedy, and Willie Best, there are some good laughs in this one. -
mark.waltz10 August 2013Somebody's out to kill Jack Oakie, a movie detective who seems intent on breaking into real life detective work. Other than the obvious critics who criticize his hamming, there's Ann Sothern, a studio employee who reluctantly ends up in most of his schemes, the cowardly Willie Best (cast again in a racial stereotype) and the sinister looking Eduardo Ciannelli, a spooky professor. There's really little amusement in this, that is until the ending confrontation in a haunted house where trapped doors and secret entrances keep the characters disappearing and reappearing. Edgar Kennedy adds another slow-burning detective with little sense and lots of temper to his credits. The finale may have you in stitches, but there's little else to laugh at in this weak programmer.
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cherold14 April 2018Super-Sleuth stars Jack Oakie as a detective-playing actor who taunts the police for failing to catch a criminal that then targets him. This isn't a mystery - we know who the killer is early on. The only real mystery of the movie is the killer's motive, but don't expect an answer to that.
Oakie is an amusing guy who plays his idiocy well, breezing down the street with - to quote a t-shirt - all the confidence of a mediocre white man.
Edgar Kennedy does his usual schtick well, and Ann Sothern is likable even though she and Oakie have absolutely no degree of chemistry.
The worst thing in the movie is a black servant who is a particularly egregious example of the way Hollywood turned African Americans into idiot children. It is painful to watch.
I wouldn't go so far as to recommend this film, but Oakie does make it watchable. -
wkozak22115 March 2019I never really heard of Jack Oakie until I started old comedies.I was pleasantly surprised. He was funny. In this film He plays a guy who is oblivious to everyone and everything around him and doesn't realize it. He is really funny. He does a great job figuring out the mystery. Luckily he has Ann Sothern to care for him.
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BA_Harrison13 September 2022Most of the humour in comedy crime caper Super-Sleuth revolves around the fact that its central character, movie star Willard Martin (Jack Oakie), is a conceited idiot who wrongly believes that he as clever as the detectives he plays in his films. Unfortunately, a vain dolt doesn't make for a very appealing protagonist.
In addition to the massively irritating Willard, Super-Sleuth suffers from a lack of intrigue, the identity of the 'Poison Pen' murderer who targets the actor revealed early on: it's Professor Herman (Eduardo Ciannelli), the creepy proprieter of a crime museum, who -- let's be honest -- would be the prime suspect anyway. Ann Sothern adds some glamour as Willard's publicity agent Mary Strand, who for some completely incomprehensible reason, is in love with her clueless client.
After lots of not-very-comical nonsense, in which Herman makes several unsuccessful attempts on Willard's life, the film ends on a high with a fun final act in which Willard and Mary apprehend the killer with help from the actor's manservant Warts (Willie Best, doing his usual 'scared and stupid' routine), who activates the professor's automated museum with crazy results. -
glennstenb27 November 2021The minor "Super-Sleuth" is a cartoon-like, live action film, but with plenty of relaxed, pleasant, and gentle comedic moments. Jack Oakie plays a likeable, almost endearing character, even though he thinks excessively highly of himself. Jack's timing is superb, providing for the viewer a film full of subtle, chuckle-inducing lines, body language, and facial reactions to circumstances he doesn't fully appreciate.
The supporting cast seems to have plenty of fun doing their part to make the film work-- that is except for Ann Southern, who, unfortunately, has little to do in the program other than just kind of be there for Jack. The inside view of making movies in 1937 on set and on location is a bonus. If you go in for viewing not expecting a Cary Grant- or Katherine Hepburn-kind of major league comedy you will enjoy this picture just fine. As a 1930's movie fan I am very glad to have finally seen it! -
beachy-3843112 April 2018I usually find movies of this era poorly written, over-acted, and the comedies not funny. This one is funny thanks to Jack Oakie. Ann Southern and the other actors did over-act, see.