Fay Wray is an heiress who foolishly poses for a drunken artist. When he falls asleep after trying to take advantage of her she escapes through a sky light. She's seen by a Photographer who brings her into his studio in the same building and they begin a love hate (mostly hate) relationship. When the artist turns up dead, and turns out to be the brother of a notorious gangster, all eyes are focused on Wray who tries to cover herself by saying she's engaged to the photographer. Comedy and murder ensue as everyone tries to figure out who did what to whom. Okay comedy/mystery is heavy on the comedy and less so on the mystery. Its often loud and shrill as the leads do the will they or won't they dance around each other to the extent that the mystery seems to get lost at times. I liked it I didn't love it. To me the problem is that the leads are poorly written coming off more shrill then charming. Not bad, but not something I really need visit again. Worth a shot, if only to see the under appreciated Wray in a "romantic comedy"
6 Reviews
A wacky collection of artists, socialites, millionaires and dumb detectives.
mark.waltz22 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Daffy heiress Fay Wray is caught by photographer Richard Arlen escaping off a fire escape wearing nothing but man's pajamas. Little does he realize that this is the scene of a crime (or will be) and is forced into giving her an alibi when she becomes a suspect in a murder in the very same building he helped her escape from. Wray's wealthy dad (Thurstan Hall) is not pleased by the scandal she drags the family name into, and it's up to Wray, Arlen and his eccentric crowd (which includes self proclaimed senator Raymond Walburn) to clear her and find out the real murderer.
Played more for slapstick than for mystery, this is witty and fast moving, just one of many comical murder mysteries which followed "The Thin Man". It sags a little here and there, and often becomes a bit too silly, but is more often than not amusing and light. Nice sets and crisp dialog are among its plusses, as well as a fine supporting cast including Leon Ames. Wray and Arlen, reunited after several years apart after their Paramount years, play nicely off of each other.
Played more for slapstick than for mystery, this is witty and fast moving, just one of many comical murder mysteries which followed "The Thin Man". It sags a little here and there, and often becomes a bit too silly, but is more often than not amusing and light. Nice sets and crisp dialog are among its plusses, as well as a fine supporting cast including Leon Ames. Wray and Arlen, reunited after several years apart after their Paramount years, play nicely off of each other.
The first 1 minute is the best!
gridoon202410 June 2018
"Murder In Greenwich Village" has an amazing start, with a half-undressed Fay Wray acrobatically jumping from one building to another! The rest of the movie, however, is a routine, forgettable, and grade-B programmer. Wray is as gorgeous as ever; Marc Lawrence is very convincing as a hard-boiled gangster. ** out of 4.
68 minutes of fun!
JohnHowardReid30 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Director: ALBERT S. ROGELL. Screenplay: Michael L. Simmons. Story: Robert T. Shannon. Photography: Henry Freulich. Film editor: Richard Fantl. Art directors: Lionel Banks, Stephen Goosson. Costumes designed by Robert Kalloch. Music director: Morris Stoloff. Producer: Wallace McDonald.
Copyright 26 October 1937 by Columbia Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Rialto, 29 October 1937. U.S. release: 3 November 1937. 7 reels. 68 minutes. At present available only on VHS.
COMMENT: Despite the title, this is actually not much of a murder mystery. It's actually a screwball, romantic comedy - and a very amusing and pleasant one at that!
And despite the movie's short running time which would seem to indicate that it was intended as a "B" attraction, a really fine cast and crew have been assembled here - and all on the foundation of a really clever script developed by Michael L. Simmons from an original by that screen story specialist, Robert T. Shannon.
Copyright 26 October 1937 by Columbia Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Rialto, 29 October 1937. U.S. release: 3 November 1937. 7 reels. 68 minutes. At present available only on VHS.
COMMENT: Despite the title, this is actually not much of a murder mystery. It's actually a screwball, romantic comedy - and a very amusing and pleasant one at that!
And despite the movie's short running time which would seem to indicate that it was intended as a "B" attraction, a really fine cast and crew have been assembled here - and all on the foundation of a really clever script developed by Michael L. Simmons from an original by that screen story specialist, Robert T. Shannon.
Watchable But Forgettable
boblipton28 February 2019
Fay Wray climbs out of a window in her slip while Richard Arlen watches admiringly from the street. He takes her to his studio, where he and his cohort of eccentrics run an advertising studio on the cheap. Meanwhile, in the apartment whence she came, an artist is murdered. When the police come to question the people in the studio, Arlen and Wray pretend to be engaged to give her an alibi.
It's an attempt to merge screwball comedy with a murder mystery. While there are some funny bits -- particularly Raymond Walburn as a down-and-out politician who alternates talking about McKinley, drinking and posing -- it is a poor screwball, because the central characters lack eccentricity and chemistry. There are dumb, malapropism-spouting cops, and Marc Lawrence gets a good role as a hood who's the brother of the murdered man, but Albert Rogell's lugubrious pacing bogs down an interesting script. There are some fine performers present, including Thurston Hall, Leon Ames and Marjorie Reynolds, but they are curiously ineffective.
It's an attempt to merge screwball comedy with a murder mystery. While there are some funny bits -- particularly Raymond Walburn as a down-and-out politician who alternates talking about McKinley, drinking and posing -- it is a poor screwball, because the central characters lack eccentricity and chemistry. There are dumb, malapropism-spouting cops, and Marc Lawrence gets a good role as a hood who's the brother of the murdered man, but Albert Rogell's lugubrious pacing bogs down an interesting script. There are some fine performers present, including Thurston Hall, Leon Ames and Marjorie Reynolds, but they are curiously ineffective.
Delightfully amusing romantic mystery
robert-temple-131 January 2008
This is a lively and extremely amusing romantic mystery film, with an excellent script by Michael L. Simmons (about whom nothing seems to be known but his credits), full of countless superb witticisms. Everybody obviously had a lot of fun making this, the energy level is high, and you can hear the champagne bubbles in the background. Despite the title, the fact that there has been a murder is of only incidental significance. This is basically a boy-meets-spoilt-rich-girl-spats-quarrels-makes-her-behave film fading out on a lingering kiss of true love, with lots of amusement and crazy characters throughout. There is a goofy thicko of a policeman who continually says: 'I hope I am not protruding', which he believes is correct English, and is constantly teased by everyone. Fay Wray is the girl, excellent at pouting, tantrums, love pangs, lingering looks, and the whole caboodle. Richard Arlen Senior is a witty and sporting leading man, driven crazy first by exasperation and later by love (and sometimes they are the same thing). In the background there is a vague 'whodunnit?' but frankly nobody seems to care, as they are too busy having fun. This film has all the froth and fizz of something from the 1920s, probably because the Depression had just ended, and everybody could enjoy themselves for a couple of years before the War in Europe was seen to be inevitable. Albert S. Rogell does a good job of directing, as he did with the excellent 'Tight Shoes' (1941) a few years later. The character actor Raymond Walburn does an excellent job as 'the Senator', who was not a senator despite his phoney reminiscences of strolls with president McKinley, in between drinks. Everybody in the film is what used to be called a 'wacky character', and this is a bit of light entertainment with plenty of genuine wit.
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