Island in the Sky (1938)
*** (out of 4)
Fast paced and sometimes suspenseful murder/mystery from Fox has a boy sent to Death Row for the murder of his father but the D.A.'s wife (Gloria Stuart) believes he's innocent so she sets out to solve the case. I've seen so many of these mystery films from this period that it's not often that I come across a good one but this is one of those films where there are some nice laughs, a good story and great performances to carry it through the short 68-minute running time. I knew Stuart from her two James Whale films but I'm enjoying her more and more with every new film I see with her. She's delightful as usual here and delivers a nice performance while Michael Whalen, Paul Kelly and Paul Hurst also turn in good work. Director Herbert I. Leeds does a good job at keeping everything going smooth and makes this little gem worth checking out.