... and by complex I mean that everybody is a possible suspect EXCEPT Dr. Ordway, his nurse, and the police. And up to the end I'm not that sure about Ordway's nurse! The film opens on a young couple seeking Ordway's (Warner Baxter's) advice on whether or not to marry. Jimmy Trotter (Lloyd Bridges) is a young man who was convicted of murdering his employer with poison. Ordway helped him get a new trial, and he was acquitted. Ordway's advice is to wait until Jimmy can get a job with a large company. Ordway does not like the fact that Jimmy is currently working for a wealthy individual as a personal secretary, which is exactly the same job he had when he was accused of murdering his employer before.
Soon thereafter Ordway decides to visit Jimmy at his place of employment. However, the maid thinks Ordway is either the coroner or with the police. You see, Jimmy's employer has just suddenly died and it looks like poison again. Ordway goes along with the ruse to get access to the crime scene and yes, it appears that Walter Burns drank poisoned coffee.
Next, the real police arrive, and this is where things get strange. The police go all "Boston Blackie" on Dr. Ordway. In spite of the fact that he has been a welcome help in other cases, they get tough with him, like he is in the way and completely unwelcome. They even imply he is helping Jimmy - who they try to arrest but escapes - evade arrest.
Well Jimmy did at least one thing he probably should not have done, he went ahead and married his fiancée Ellen against Dr. Ordway's advice. It doesn't help Ordway that the Burns mansion is filled with suspects - the young widow, the victim's brother and nephew who both circle like sharks, a maid who has been carrying a torch for the dead Mr. Burns for 30 years to the point that her mind has become effected, and a cook who turns out to be an imposter and flees the Burns household when Ordway calls her on her impersonation. The point is, by the end of the film you are suspecting all of these people including Jimmy and his wife.
The one odd thing in this film - Jimmy and Ellen have just gotten married a day or two earlier, yet their house looks like the set of "I Love Lucy" - it is completely decorated with frilly curtains, comfy couch, and well stocked kitchen as Ellen parades around in stylish house-dress and frilly apron like she has been a housewife for five years, not five days! Highly recommended as a good entry in the Crime Doctor series.
