1937's "The Westland Case" began the regrettably short-lived series of Crime Club mysteries from Universal, clearly superior to their Inner Sanctums but more difficult to find. Of the 7 official entries, 3 starred Preston Foster as hard drinking, perpetually sleepy Detective Bill Crane, and Frank Jenks as his wisecracking sidekick Doc Williams; such was the case with this first one, as Robert Westland (Theodore von Eltz) has only six days left to live, convicted of murdering his wife, whom he was in the process of divorcing. Crane and Williams are summoned when someone sends Westland a note promising to alibi him, but every time a new lead becomes promising, the subject winds up dead. The dead wife was discovered locked in her room, her key still lying on the table beside the body, and her husband in possession of the only other key, plus his gun has seemingly disappeared after the murder. Foster and Jenks excel in their tailor-made roles, not dissimilar to the "I Love a Mystery" duo, Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough), who also did 3 features in 1945-46. Russell Hicks and George Meeker make a decent pair of suspects, and Ward Bond plays Westland's fellow death row inmate Connors, who puts him onto the right lawyer to get him out, played with great relish by scene-stealing Clarence H. Wilson (frequently seen opposite Charlie Chase in 2 reel Hal Roach comedies). The other Bill Crane titles are "The Lady in the Morgue" (bringing back Thomas E. Jackson and Barbara Pepper) and "The Last Warning" (both 1938). Editor Otis Garrett graduated to director with the next Crime Club, "The Black Doll," missing out on just one, "The Last Warning."
10 Reviews
5 days to go
bkoganbing23 May 2020
Theodre Von Eltz has got five days to go before he's executed for sa crime
he didn't commit. In a last minute move of desperation he hires a trio pf
detectives, Preston Foster, Frank Jenks, and Clarence Wilson.
foster and Jenks clown around a lot in the film, but it's an act to keep folks relaxed so they might make a mistake.
Forensics is the key. The victim was shot with a British Webley pistol which the condemned man owned and it's lost. a lot of this has Foster looking his gun and another that did the job presumably
Good programmer from the B unit at Universal.
foster and Jenks clown around a lot in the film, but it's an act to keep folks relaxed so they might make a mistake.
Forensics is the key. The victim was shot with a British Webley pistol which the condemned man owned and it's lost. a lot of this has Foster looking his gun and another that did the job presumably
Good programmer from the B unit at Universal.
Breezy Mystery Kicks Off Universal's Crime Club
boblipton27 April 2020
PI Preston Foster is hired to prove the innocence of Theodore von Eltz -- also a tough job -- before he hangs in less than a week.
It's the first of three Universal mysteries based on Jonathan Latimer's 'Bill Crane' detective novels. It's a fine classic crime mystery, with Foster gradually assembling the real story, although his conclusions remain a little obscure even after he explains them and produces the witness. Still, for a second feature, it's brief, lively and gets the job done.
It's directed by the under-rated Christy Cabanne. Mr. Cabanne is generally considered a terrible director, but when he had a bit of a budget, he could get some nice effects. He began directing under the supervision of D. W. Griffith about 1913, and by the early 1930s was considered a leading director at the newly constituted MGM. Sound hit him hard, like many of the old professionals, but until the end of the 1930s, he held up his end in programmers and second features. He directed his last of more than 150 features and short subjects in 1948 and died two years later, aged 62.
It's the first of three Universal mysteries based on Jonathan Latimer's 'Bill Crane' detective novels. It's a fine classic crime mystery, with Foster gradually assembling the real story, although his conclusions remain a little obscure even after he explains them and produces the witness. Still, for a second feature, it's brief, lively and gets the job done.
It's directed by the under-rated Christy Cabanne. Mr. Cabanne is generally considered a terrible director, but when he had a bit of a budget, he could get some nice effects. He began directing under the supervision of D. W. Griffith about 1913, and by the early 1930s was considered a leading director at the newly constituted MGM. Sound hit him hard, like many of the old professionals, but until the end of the 1930s, he held up his end in programmers and second features. He directed his last of more than 150 features and short subjects in 1948 and died two years later, aged 62.
The Inner Detective
tedg15 July 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This may be hard for you to find. Mine is the first comment, so I will describe the story a bit.
It is fairly typical in many respects. You've got a wisecrackin, drinkin, womanizin detective and his sidekick. There are backstabbin partners and cheatin wimmen. There's a gathering of all the suspects for the announcement of the true murderer only seconds before the enframed is executed. Witnesses are killed as soon as they are identified.
And the basic form is a locked room mystery. The woman is killed in a locked room to which the only other key is the suspect's.
What makes this interesting is that it begins with a film within the film. Its a bit tortured, so its obvious that the writers went to some trouble to arrange it. The same group of suspects is gathered to see this movie. It is a "re-enactment" of the discovery of the body, made by the prosecutor and involving all the original characters and the body. It must have been made moments after the real events.
I don't know of any other detective movie with this device. There is lots of joking about watching a movie and not making one, when this is happening.
So even though the mystery is ordinary, this narrative device makes the movie important.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
It is fairly typical in many respects. You've got a wisecrackin, drinkin, womanizin detective and his sidekick. There are backstabbin partners and cheatin wimmen. There's a gathering of all the suspects for the announcement of the true murderer only seconds before the enframed is executed. Witnesses are killed as soon as they are identified.
And the basic form is a locked room mystery. The woman is killed in a locked room to which the only other key is the suspect's.
What makes this interesting is that it begins with a film within the film. Its a bit tortured, so its obvious that the writers went to some trouble to arrange it. The same group of suspects is gathered to see this movie. It is a "re-enactment" of the discovery of the body, made by the prosecutor and involving all the original characters and the body. It must have been made moments after the real events.
I don't know of any other detective movie with this device. There is lots of joking about watching a movie and not making one, when this is happening.
So even though the mystery is ordinary, this narrative device makes the movie important.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
Tension in the condemned cell
greenbudgie12 February 2021
This is the first of the three Universal Bill Crane comic mysteries with Preston Foster playing the detective. He is a hard-drinking playboy investigator who manages to sober up quickly enough to get his job done. The story is set in Chicago with mobsters and their machine guns still operating in that city. Shootings occur in a club and out on the streets to try and stop Crane getting the information he needs.
A man named Robert Westland is in the condemned cell for murdering his wife. He receives a letter six days before he is due to be executed. He feels hopeful that this letter will prove his innocence and so he gives it to his attorney friend Frazee. Frazee and the warden get Crane on the case. Crane has to prove how someone else could have committed the killing while leaving the murder room locked from the inside when Westland has the only other key.
The tension mounts as the time ticks down to the moment of Westland's execution. And it goes down to the wire with a roomful of people anxiously watching the clock in the warden's room. I reckon the action and the mystery and the humor are dealt out in just the right proportions. Preston Foster is good and able to switch between portraying serious detective work and delivering some humorous lines. Barbara Pepper is also good as the tough blonde doing a fair impression of Mae West.
A man named Robert Westland is in the condemned cell for murdering his wife. He receives a letter six days before he is due to be executed. He feels hopeful that this letter will prove his innocence and so he gives it to his attorney friend Frazee. Frazee and the warden get Crane on the case. Crane has to prove how someone else could have committed the killing while leaving the murder room locked from the inside when Westland has the only other key.
The tension mounts as the time ticks down to the moment of Westland's execution. And it goes down to the wire with a roomful of people anxiously watching the clock in the warden's room. I reckon the action and the mystery and the humor are dealt out in just the right proportions. Preston Foster is good and able to switch between portraying serious detective work and delivering some humorous lines. Barbara Pepper is also good as the tough blonde doing a fair impression of Mae West.
Runt of the Litter
Kittyman19 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
During the second half of the 1930s, Jonathan Latimer wrote five screwball mysteries featuring Chicago private eye Bill Crane. When not boozing or snoozing, his highest priorities, he cleverly unraveled complicated crimes.
The first of three Universal* "crime club" films made from the novels is The Westland Case (1937). It is based on Headed for a Hearst (1935). The other two films are The Lady in the Morgue (1938) and The Last Warning (1938). All three starred Preston Foster as Bill Crane and Frank Jenks as Doc Williams, his assistant. All had different directors, and while the second, The Lady in the Morgue is the best by far, all are well worth watching.
In The Westland Case, six days before his execution, a wealthy businessman convicted of murdering his wife, retains an attorney (who then hires Crane and Williams) to exonerate him. (Look closely for a cameo by uncredited Ward Bond. He plays Connor, Westland's death row neighbor.) Unfortunately, however, all initial breaks end in more killings.
There are several highlights. The film's brisk pace engages and holds you. It is difficult to ascertain who actually perpetrated the murder, although it is much easier to guess how the "locked room mystery," itself, occurred. Then there is Foster and Jenks' camaraderie. They made a good team, playing well off each other. Lastly, mustachioed Clarence Wilson, a short, weaselly looking man, absolutely embodies everyone's worst lawyer stereotype.
However, there are also two major weak points. Several performances, including those of Foster and Jenks, should have been toned down. (In the second film, they were.) Foster needed less oafishness and more subtlety and Jenks, whose face was very mobile, needed fewer over-the-top reaction shots. Finally, Barbara Pepper, with a very bad Mae West imitation, gave a terrible performance. Indeed, I found the film's biggest mysteries were how she got the part and why all three leads were irresistibly attracted to her. In real life, most men would have fled.
*As an interesting aside, 15 years later, the Universal logo theme music for these films was reused as the TV theme for George Reeves' Superman series.
The first of three Universal* "crime club" films made from the novels is The Westland Case (1937). It is based on Headed for a Hearst (1935). The other two films are The Lady in the Morgue (1938) and The Last Warning (1938). All three starred Preston Foster as Bill Crane and Frank Jenks as Doc Williams, his assistant. All had different directors, and while the second, The Lady in the Morgue is the best by far, all are well worth watching.
In The Westland Case, six days before his execution, a wealthy businessman convicted of murdering his wife, retains an attorney (who then hires Crane and Williams) to exonerate him. (Look closely for a cameo by uncredited Ward Bond. He plays Connor, Westland's death row neighbor.) Unfortunately, however, all initial breaks end in more killings.
There are several highlights. The film's brisk pace engages and holds you. It is difficult to ascertain who actually perpetrated the murder, although it is much easier to guess how the "locked room mystery," itself, occurred. Then there is Foster and Jenks' camaraderie. They made a good team, playing well off each other. Lastly, mustachioed Clarence Wilson, a short, weaselly looking man, absolutely embodies everyone's worst lawyer stereotype.
However, there are also two major weak points. Several performances, including those of Foster and Jenks, should have been toned down. (In the second film, they were.) Foster needed less oafishness and more subtlety and Jenks, whose face was very mobile, needed fewer over-the-top reaction shots. Finally, Barbara Pepper, with a very bad Mae West imitation, gave a terrible performance. Indeed, I found the film's biggest mysteries were how she got the part and why all three leads were irresistibly attracted to her. In real life, most men would have fled.
*As an interesting aside, 15 years later, the Universal logo theme music for these films was reused as the TV theme for George Reeves' Superman series.
Harmless Little Murder Mystery - The Westland Case
arthur_tafero10 May 2021
This film is notable for one reason, and one reason only. It is the performance of Barbara Pepper, a Mae-West look and act alike actress who does a terrific job of imitating Mae West. For five minutes, I was mezmerized by her performance. Her body movements, eye rolling, posture with hand on hip, and other right-on imitations of West were remarkable. The rest of the film is average kaka. See the film and roll to the 25 minute mark just for this sequence; its worth it. Then forget about watching the rest of it.
"I think a lot of that wrench. It's the best one I ever had."
utgard1414 September 2020
Obnoxious detective (Preston Foster) assembles the friends of a man on death row to help prove he didn't commit the murder of which he was convicted. First in the Crime Club series from Universal. Most of these movies weren't connected but three of them feature Foster as detective Crane and Frank Jenks as his sidekick Doc. Crane just annoys me. He's not funny or charming like they clearly intended him to be. His seeming indifference to what's going on gets old fast. The rest of the cast is ok. Clarence Wilson and Harlow knock-off Barbara Pepper are standouts. It's a fairly routine B detective picture. Not bad to kill an hour but nothing special.
Absolutely implausible and a positively wonderful watch!
mmipyle29 August 2020
The fact that some fiction is so implausible as to be wonderful reading fulfills the definition of much of the mystery writing that has ever been done. When converted into a film, some of these ridiculously implausible films are the most fun to watch. Universal made eight "Crime Club" mystery films based on novels that were part of such a series. The very first one was "The Westland Case" (1937), starring Preston Foster, Frank Jenks, Carol Hughes, Barbara Pepper, Astrid Allwyn, Clarence Wilson, Theodore von Eltz, George Meeker, Russell Hicks, Selmer Jackson, Thomas E. Jackson, and others. This one moves along at a wonderful pace, and the characters are all full of snap, pap, and sass. Barbara Pepper does her best saltiest Mae West and infinitely steals the best acting honors. She's absolutely wonderful in the part. Even reedy and thin-boned, thin-voiced, wiry-haired Clarence Wilson shines throughout the affairs of this tumbling mystery that takes one from one suspect to another as Preston Foster cleverly, slyly, hung-overly, smart-assedly goes after the clue that breaks the mystery into solved territory. His helper is the equally smart-assed, self-righteous-eyed, told-ya'-so Frank Jenks. The plot is one where a wife (of Theodore von Eltz) is found murdered in a locked room, with the key still in the locked room. The husband is accused and is on death row. Another death row character, Ward Bond, recommends that the husband hire Preston Foster. This was really well done and a pleasure to watch. Moves like a race around 1930's dirt race tracks, with plenty of dust and oil and nary a car in the film at a race track, just mystery stirring the pot of fate - with a lot of garlic added.
The First of Universal's Crime Club Series
Michael_Elliott26 October 2015
The Westland Case (1937)
** (out of 4)
Robert Westland is in prison and set to die in a matter of days when private detective Bill Crane (Preston Foster) decides to take his case. Westland's wife was found murdered inside her apartment with all the doors and windows locked. There were only two keys with one on the inside and the other with her husband.
THE WESTLAND CASE was the first of eight Crime Club films that would be produced at Universal in a very quick period. This was the first in the series that I've watched and I must admit that I was really letdown by it, although I've read that it's one of the weakest in the series. I think the biggest problem is the fact that the screenplay really isn't all that memorable and in fact I'd argue that it really isn't any better than some of the detective films from the poverty row companies.
I think the biggest problem is in fact the screenplay, which doesn't give us an interesting case and it certainly doesn't give us any interesting characters. The Crane character really isn't any different than a dozen other detectives out there during this era and he certainly doesn't put himself up there with the best known. Even worse are the supporting members who don't add much of anything. Throw in some rather weak humor and you've got all the elements for a rather bland film.
** (out of 4)
Robert Westland is in prison and set to die in a matter of days when private detective Bill Crane (Preston Foster) decides to take his case. Westland's wife was found murdered inside her apartment with all the doors and windows locked. There were only two keys with one on the inside and the other with her husband.
THE WESTLAND CASE was the first of eight Crime Club films that would be produced at Universal in a very quick period. This was the first in the series that I've watched and I must admit that I was really letdown by it, although I've read that it's one of the weakest in the series. I think the biggest problem is the fact that the screenplay really isn't all that memorable and in fact I'd argue that it really isn't any better than some of the detective films from the poverty row companies.
I think the biggest problem is in fact the screenplay, which doesn't give us an interesting case and it certainly doesn't give us any interesting characters. The Crane character really isn't any different than a dozen other detectives out there during this era and he certainly doesn't put himself up there with the best known. Even worse are the supporting members who don't add much of anything. Throw in some rather weak humor and you've got all the elements for a rather bland film.
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