Quick Summary: Miss Withers may be a middle-aged spinster schoolteacher, but she knows her detective work. A light, fun movie.

Title: Murder on the Blackboard

Release: 1934

Director: George Archainbaud

Starring:
Edna May Oliver (Hildegard Withers)
James Gleason (Oscar Piper)

Muder on the Blackboard is a fun mystery in the 'cosy' tradition of Agatha Christie and Murder She Wrote. Miss Withers works in a large New York City elementary school along with a depressed music teacher, a womanizing principal, a drunken janitor, and a science teacher who's in love with the school secretary. When the music teacher is murdered, there are no obvious suspects - but Miss Withers is on the case. Miss Withers may be a middle-aged spinster schoolteacher, but she knows her detective work. With the help of her good friend, Inspector Oscar Piper, the crime is solved with a mix of humour and adventure.

The movie is exactly the sort of light, fun, slightly humorous work I expect from 1930s film. Camera work is fine, but not exactly unique or ground-breaking. The use of music is clever, and there are enough red-herrings to keep the film interesting throughout its 71 minute running-time. Taken altogether, the film is fun and interesting, and definitely worth a watch.  

Originally written: November 9, 2010

Interestingly, this movie is part of a larger series of films, and there are also a number of novels chronicling Miss Withers and Inspector Piper's adventures.