The Clue Club

TCM has been showing a bunch of doctor-related movies today, with one of them being The Murder of Dr. Harrigan. It's an interesting if not very good murder mystery, with a lot of only partially-developed characters and red herrings that are never really resolved. Oh, and it's got Mary Astor billed fourth; apparently, she was billed that low as punishment. What I found most interesting is that one of the opening title cards mentioned this as a "Clue Club" film, something I had never heard of before.

My first thought was that perhaps "Clue Club" was in independent production company that made the film which was distributed by Warners, but that was quickly dispelled when another card said it was a Warner Bros.-First National production; First National being the other studio Warners had acquired and which made the B movies. A bit of research found this old thread at Nitrateville which reveals that Warners were planning to make a series of these, but only wound up making four of them -- or, at least, only sticking the "Clue Club" tag on four of them. You learn something new every day.

The Murder of Dr. Harrigan hasn't gotten a DVD release, and I have no idea if it's going to show up on TCM again any time soon, but it is worth one viewing. Not only for Astor in a supporting role, but for a very "nervous" patient and a dipsomaniac who nearly wind up at each other's throats, providing the bizarre comic relief.