MAD HOLIDAY (1936)

We see actor Philip Trent (Edmund Lowe) filming the climax of his latest movie in which he plays the sleuth Shelby James. Afterwards, he announces that he is tired of playing the part, which is based on a series of books by Peter Dean, and takes off on a cruise. He is immediately spotted as a celebrity and is hounded by Mrs. Kinney (Zasu Pitts), a mild-mannered but often drunk fan. His plans for settling down for the night are spoiled when he gets involved with a mysterious blonde who is being followed by a sinister figure, the outcome of which is a dead body in Trent's cabin. But by the time the ship's detective arrives, the body's gone. Lo and behold, the whole thing is a publicity stunt carried out by Trent's agent, Morgan (Ted Healy), and by the author Peter Dean (Elissa Landi), who is actually a woman and who was the mysterious blonde. Morgan and Dean are quite amused, the detective and the ship's captain less so, but soon a real dead body shows up, that of Van Mier, a wealthy man in possession of a famous diamond called the Dragon. Dean wants to use her expertise to crack the case with Trent's help, and eventually the help of the dead man's valet (Edmund Gwenn). Possible suspects include 'Cocky' Joe, a sometime jewel thief who had been hired to pose as the dead man in the original prank, and Li Tai, an Asian woman whose family once possessed the diamond and who had been negotiating to regain it. The diamond is found, but it turns out it's a fake, and suspicion falls on the ship's detective who is suddenly missing. As Trent reluctantly joins Dean is some sleuthing, the climax occurs on land in a Chinese theater where Li Tai's husband Li Yat is performing. 

After the success of the Thin Man movies in the mid-1930s, screwball comedy-mysteries were briefly the rage. Most of them are fun B-movies but no masterpieces and this is no exception. I'm not normally a big fan of Lowe's whom I normally find rather stuffy and stolid, but he's fine here, and he has good chemistry with Landi (who actually appeared in a Thin Man movie in 1936; pictured with Lowe) who makes her obnoxious character quite appealing. The whole cast is good, including the dependable Gwenn, the hardy Healy, and the blustery Edgar Kennedy as the detective. Best of all is Pitts who does a drunkard act to a tee and steals all her scenes, even when she's sober. There is a fair amount of slapstickish action, primarily when, through an outlandish chain of events, Trent and Dean wind up handcuffed in a cabin with Morgan locked in the bathroom. Though not a timeless gem, it's fun while it lasts and at 70 minutes, it doesn't wear out its welcome. [TCM]