"The Black Doll" is one of about 658,002,832 B-murder mysteries made during the 1930s and 40s and there is a certain sameness about them because most follow similar patterns. First, a person establishes to the audience they are thoroughly despicable and they then soon die. Second, a dopey cop shows up to investigate. Third, the crime is solved by an amateur. Fourth, everyone not killed lives happily ever after.When the story begins, Nelson Rood (C. Henry Gordon) spends a lot of time ticking off everyone around him. He's a thoroughly disgusting individual and you know in a film like this, Rood will soon be dead and EVERYONE who knew him is a suspect! The only real difference is that a black doll was found next to his body.Into this mess arrives the brain-dead Sheriff (Edgar Kennedy). He's a bit more bumbling and ridiculous that usual for this sort of cop...but not much. But there's also the know-it-all amateur, Mr. Halstead (Donald Woods)...who made TONS of educated guesses and gets all of them right...as if he was reading the screenplay in order to know all the answers. So who is doing this and why are they using a black doll? Who knows...and considering that it's so formulaic, who really cares?!

Because they have good casts and a nice dosage of humor, I like the Crime Club murder mysteries and this entry is no exception. The wealthy and overbearing Nicholas Rood finds a Mexican voodoo like black doll on his desk. According to Rood's butler, this signifies an impending death. And sure enough, Rood is killed by a thrown knife. There are suspects galore - among them Rood's sister and wife, the butler and two former partners from whom Rood has been hiding for several years. Rood's daughter and clever boyfriend (the charming Nan Grey and the ever affable Donald Woods) take the lead in the investigation, which is a good thing because the cops investigating the crime, Sheriff Renick and his deputy are pretty dimwitted to say the least. Edgar Kennedy as the Sheriff provides most of the welcome humor. In fact, Kennedy has one of my all time favorite stupid remarks. He says to Woods, "I know something you don't know." "What?" "You're standing on my foot." Even with lines like this, it' a fun and an entertaining movie. Interesting to me is that Holmes Herbert who starred in a number of silent films has the role of Dr. Giddings in this movie. Herbert never rose above character roles in sound films.

1938's "The Black Doll" was the second of seven Crime Club mysteries from Universal, and the first of two that starred Donald Woods and lovely Nan Grey. Although not included in Universal's popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50's, it did air an amazing 4 times on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater- December 14 1968 (followed by 1961's "Creature from the Haunted Sea"), May 30 1970 (following 1958's "Invasion of the Animal People"), April 10 1971 (following 1942's "Bowery at Midnight"), and July 14 1973 (following 1936's "Bat Men of Africa"). The opening credits roll to the Franz Waxman score from "Bride of Frankenstein" (as does "The Lady in the Morgue"), with snatches throughout heard from "The Invisible Man," "WereWolf of London," "The Raven," "The Invisible Ray," and "Dracula's Daughter." The mystery is a solid one, featuring C. Henry Gordon as Nelson Rood, who receives a curious black doll as an unwanted reminder of his past murder of a colleague that discovered a rich mine. This ill omen is known only to Rood and his two partners, Walling (John Wray) and Mallison (Addison Richards), both of whom are summoned to Rood's remote country mansion, shortly before the host is killed in front of his daughter (Nan Grey), an eyewitness to the crime through her mirror, but who never saw the murderer. Her boyfriend is Nick Halstead (Donald Woods), who arrives on the scene before the moronic sheriff (Edgar Kennedy), plus the local doctor (Holmes Herbert) living nearby. Also residing in the victim's home are his sister (Doris Lloyd) and her son (William Lundigan), a gambler and forger caught in the act by the now dead Rood. Nan Grey is just adorable, and the climax finds our hero solving the crimes at the breakfast table (!). Plenty of suspects and good atmosphere, let down only by the increasingly irritating antics from the inept authorities, still perfect for late night viewing. The next Crime Club would be "The Lady in the Morgue."

There is a liberal dose of humor in this movie where Edgar Kennedy, master of the slow burn, plays a sheriff investigating a murder in a small town. The point of the plot is the Black Doll of the title and a harbinger of death which appears and disappears through out the proceedings. Kennedy is "aided" by a newspaper reporter who manages to put the whole thing together.Its a breezy 65 minutes that fly by almost as an after thought. The mystery is clever but it seems stretched out to fill the required running time. The cast is quite good and the whole thing has the feel of something from a lazy Sunday.Its so breezy as to be utterly forgettable. I recently found this on one of my video tapes and was totally baffled by what it was. I know that I had watched this previously since I removed the commercials at some earlier time, but I can't for the life of me remember ever seeing it other than when I just popped it into the VCR last night. Now some twelve hours later I find the film rapidly disappearing from my mind.If you want to see a film you'll enjoy for its running time but which will leave no trace on you consciousness, this is the movie for you.