La cena trágica

Allyn Joslyn is fairly insufferable playing a cartoonist who continually annoys the local police while butting into their cases; as his better half, Evelyn Keyes yips and yelps with cartoonish abandon, trying to make something light and cute out of this script. Based on Oscar Saul's story "Stalk the Hunter", four screenwriters (Saul included) manage to turn this comedic murder mystery into a flighty "Thin Man" derivative (the opening sequence typifies the rest: a cute visual followed by outright silliness). Plot has a doctor poisoned at a social gathering, with another doctor the prime suspect. As usual, the law is always three steps behind the snooping marrieds, and the one-liners alternate between amusing and ridiculous. *1/2 from ****