Hildegarde's Honeymoon Horror
School teacher Hildegarde Withers (Edna May Oliver - Drums Along the Mohawk) id off on holiday flying to Catalina Island on a small sea plane with just a handful of other passengers. When one of the passengers Roswell T. Forrest (Brooks Benedict) is found dead on arrival Hildegarde is convinced foul play is a foot. And she becomes even more curious when having written to Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason - Loving You) he arrives to handle the case.
"Murder on a Honeymoon" was the third in the series of Hildegarde Withers murder mysteries and sadly the last to star the wonderful Edna May Oliver. I say wonderful because as in the previous movies it is very much Oliver's characterisation of Hildegarde Withers which makes the movie, ever ounce a school teacher but also persistent amateur detective. The way she manages to seem prim and stiff yet throw herself about and over deliver facial expressions makes her unforgettable.
But Oliver is not alone and James Gleason returns for the third of his seven appearances as Oscar Piper and once again delivers the archetypal cigar chomping detective who more often than not is out smarted by Withers. And there are plenty of other fun characters from a tatty vest wearing Island coroner to the attractive wannabe actress Phyllis La Font played by the sweet Lola Lane.
There is of course the murder mystery element and whilst "Murder on a Honeymoon" is all about the comedy it does have a surprisingly decent mystery in there as well. It comes from a set up which sees the victim in the space of a few minutes on the sea plane interact with a few people, from sharing a drink from a hip flask to a young woman falling on him. There is just enough about the mystery that it manages to keep you interested in what is going on and all the twists.
What this all boils down to is that "Murder on a Honeymoon" is a fun third entry in the Hildegarde Withers murder mystery series with Edna May Oliver once again owning the movie.
