blanche-2 I'm not overly familiar with the Hildegarde Withers mysteries, having only seen one other. In this one, "Murder on a Bridal Path," Miss Withers is played by Helen Broderick. Apparently there were three Withers: Edna May Oliver, Broderick, and Zasu Pitts. James Gleason remains as Oscar, the police detective who acts like he doesn't need or want Withers' help but she always steers him down the right path.When the body of Violet Feverel is discovered on the Central Park bridle path, it looks as if she was thrown from her horse. Hildegarde is walking her dog and, having found the horse, sees that he has blood on him. It's ultimately found to be murder.Nobody like this woman, particularly her ex-husband Don whom she's thrown in jail for back alimony. And he was released by a forged court order. Also, the manager of her stables fought with her that morning. And then there's Eddie Fry who is seeing Violet's sister to the disapproval of Violet.Oscar and Hildegarde head out to Don's home on Long Island. There they meet the cast of a horror film: the sick father, Patrick, the caretaker Chris, and his crippled son Joey.When Don's father is murdered, it brings Hildegarde closer to figuring out the identity of the killer.Mildly entertaining - even though it's short, it seems longer. It's very dark-looking, with the Long Island house looking like Bleak House. I liked Helen Broderick. She has a fun way with dialogue and nice chemistry with Gleason, though Oliver's was better.I think the Penguin Pool Murder was better. This is okay.

gridoon2018 In "Murder On A Bridle Path", the fourth entry in the Hildegarde Withers series, Helen Broderick replaces Edna May Oliver as the snoopy and smart schoolteacher-turned-amateur-sleuth, and although she is cuter than her predecessor, she is no match for her comedy-wise; or maybe Oliver was just so distinctive in the role that it's hard to accept anyone else in it. James Gleason does his usual solid work as the befuddled Oscar Piper, but most of the rest of the supporting cast is bland. The story begins well, but soon bogs down; to be honest, I was looking forward to the "terrific finale" that Leonard Maltin promises in his otherwise damning capsule review, but it wasn't there, IMO. Watch this one only if you must watch every film in the series. ** out of 4.

sol ***SPOILERS*** It's when Violet Feverel, Sheila Terry, is found trampled to death on Central Park's Bridle Path it's assumed by the police headed by the cigar chewing Inspector Piper, James Gleason, that it all was a tragic accident. Violet had taken a horse out for a morning ride and lost control of the animal with her ending up getting killed by it. It's when school teacher and part-time sleuth Hildergard Winters, Helen Broderick, shows up at the scene that the open and shut case was reopened in that Violet's death wasn't accidental but cold blooded murder.Inspector Piper with Hildegard's help uncovers a number of people who had it in for Violet and may well have gone so far as murdering her. There's Violet's estranged husband Don Gregg, Leslie Fenton, who was released from prison just a day before her death and is considered the #1 suspect in Violet's murder. There's also Violet's sister Barbara, Louise Latimer, and fiancée Eddie Fry, Owen Davis Jr, who never got along with her and can't seem to come up with an alibi in where they were at the time of her death.It's later when Don Gregg's old man Pat Gregg, John Milter, is almost found dead at the Gregg Mansion in Elmont Long Island the attention turns to his already suspected of murder son Don who's now suspected by Inspector Piper in trying to murder him and make it look like an accident! Like he's suspected of doing to his wife Violet! It's when old man Gregg is found dead in his study watching the races, with a telescope, at the Belmont Park racetrack from his third floor window that Hildegard suspect his death was not a heart attack but murder. And the murderer was someone very close to Pat Gregg who wanted him out of the way not for monetary but for very very personal reasons!***SPOILERS*** It's then that all he loose ends in this very confusing murder case all tie together and it all had to do with a horse race that the killer, by having the money he was to bet on it, was kept from betting on! A bit talky but still very entertaining murder mystery with actress Helen Broderick as armature sleuth Hildegard Withers having a hard time keeping a straight face in her scenes with stable-boy High Pockets, Willie Best, who with his laid back and Stephen Fetchet style of talking has her desperately trying to keep from cracking up in every scene she's in with him. The award for ham acting honors in the movie has to go to the murderer himself! The exposed, by Hildegard, murdered gets so caught up with his big scene in the film in his explaining why he did it, murdered Violet & old man Gregg, that he loses his footing and breaks through a second floor railing in the Gregg Mansion and falls to his death!

Arthur Hausner This fourth movie in the Hildegarde Withers-Oscar Piper series has Helen Broderick replacing Edna May Oliver in the Withers role. She's the most sophisticated of the three who played the role (the other was ZaSu Pitts) but I still enjoyed the banter she has with James Gleason, who played Piper in the entire series. The plot is a bit hard to follow (I watched it twice to clear up some points) and it is impossible to determine or even guess who the killer is. That didn't bother me, since I had fun with lots of comedy in the film. Willie Best has his usual steroetyped negro role and James Donlan plays the more-or-less inept detective. I particularly enjoyed the red herring of the pipe, which eventually reveals how to tell if a person has false teeth.