a5c7b9f00b Vacationing Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt (Adolph Menjou) slips out of News York City and picks a small New York state town for his rest and recreation (with Miss Kelly (Ruthelma Stevens) his secretary, in case he needs someone to take a note or make coffee. He soon becomes involved in murder and mayhem when a travelling circus comes to town and the circus queen, Josie La Tour (Greta Nissen) slips from a trapeze-perch when someone shoots a poisoned arrow in her back. Who plugged Josie La Tour? Eliminate Miss Kelly only.
Suave, lip-reading DA Thatcher Colt plans to get away from the big city for a while. So he and his secretary, Miss Kelly hop on a train for an Upstate NY town called Gilead. They expect a calm oasis, but when a small time circus rolls into town they soon find themselves caught up in a sordid tale of marital infidelity, murder, cruelty to animals, and cannibalism.
This is just a terrific little movie featuring Thatcher Colt, the lip reading D.A. He was a creation of Anthony Abbott, who wrote the stories for Liberty Magazine. Everything about this movie was perfect, the pacing, the wit, the fact that Miss Kelly, his lovely secretary was not just decoration but a vital part of solving the mystery. Ruthelma Stevens also played Miss Kelly in "The Night Club Lady" (1932), the only other Thatcher Colt story adapted for the screen - this movie makes you wish there had been more. Adolph Menjou brought sophistication and urbanity to Thatcher Colt, a harassed New York City D.A. who badly needs a holiday and goes to Gilead, a town where he thinks he can become John Smith.<br/><br/>When the circus comes to town all hope of a quiet vacation becomes a dream as he and Miss Kelly are thrown into some seedy circus intrigues. The circus is in strife - it is due to close after it's stay in Gilead due to lack of money, there is also a steamy love triangle involving "King of the High Wire" Sebastian (Donald Cook), Josie La Tour (Greta Nissen) a seductive bare back rider and Flandrin, her deranged husband (Dwight Frye). Yes, that's right, Dwight Frye can add another deranged characterization to his rogue's gallery and he is fantastic.<br/><br/>Before he can finish his third bag of peanuts Colt's expertise is needed to help solve the case but he gets a lot of help from Miss Kelly. Flandrin is missing, his caravan is in disarray and there is a gunshot through the window, but while Josie manages to keep a stiff upper lip about that, the death of her little dog Choo Choo sends her into hysterics. There are also threatening letters being sent - "If the circus attempts to open, you will all die!!" - that sort of thing, plus the circus star attraction, a group of cannibals have a habit of going missing. The climatic high wire performance is done very thrillingly and will surprise you!!<br/><br/>Greta Nissen was a lovely Norwegian actress whose career never recovered from the "Hell's Angels" debacle. She had already completed her role as the faithless Helen in the silent version but when sound came in Howard Hughes remade the movie featuring his protégé, the unknown Jean Harlow, because Nissen's accent was so hard to understand. Four years later, it wasn't much better - it was still a challenge to understand Miss Nissen in her role of Josie. Strangely, to me, she seemed much clearer in "Transatlantic" made two years previously in 1931.<br/><br/>Highly Recommended.
New York police commissioner Adolph Menjou heads out of town for a rest, and gets involved in the goings on behind a traveling circus. Spooky Dwight Frye (of "Dracula" fame) is the demented husband of carnival circus queen Greta Nissen, and is so insanely jealous of her and her obvious lover (Donald Cook) that he sets up a devious plan to knock all of them off (including himself!). Menjou and his pretty assistant Ruthelma Stevens must prevent Frye from going through with his evil plot, which includes cannibals, a chirping gorilla and Nissen's beloved dog. This is not really a mystery, since it is obvious from the start who the villain is, but simply a decent thriller of how Menjou deduces how to stop the killer from striking again. It is excellently photographed and moves along quickly enough to make it better than it could have been. Columbia pictures at this time was only noted for Frank Capra's "A" budget films, but occasionally, a nice surprise like this one comes along. Fortunately, some of them are cropping up at film festivals or revival houses (like New York's Film Forum or L.A.'s Nuart), and now on TCM. Menjou and Frye get the acting honors here, and Nissen's character is slightly reminiscent of Olga Baclanova's character in the earlier "Freaks". In fact, there are a few interesting similarities between this film and "Freaks", although there are none of the supposedly "grotestque" characters here that "Freaks" stunned 1932 film-goers with. Frye, of course, does menacing very well, and even as a cop, Menjou is still the elegant man about town. Keep an eye on the gorilla that Menjou observes screeching at him. It appears to be a plot development that somehow was deleted before the final print that made me think that one of the characters was somehow stuffed into a gorilla suit and was screaming "help me!" to get Menjou's attention.
The Circus Queen Murder Song Free Download
Updated: Mar 29, 2020
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