The Gracie Allen Murder Case Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Gracie Allen Murder Case Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 27, 2025

Alfred E. Green's comedy "The Gracie Allen Murder Case" (1939) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only supplemental feature on the release is an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critic Bernie Prokop. In English, with optional English SDH subtiltes for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"Are you dead? Listen, if you are dead, speak up, and if you are not dead, say so."

Assuming Gracie Allen always says exactly what Nat Perrin’s screenplay demands, it is impossible not to praise the quality of the writing and compare it to Preston Sturges’ work. Allen’s character consistently fires off lines that are so out of context that the confusion and sometimes massive chaos they create are absolutely brilliant. The reactions of the various perplexed and annoyed people with properly functioning heads in her orbit are quite wonderful, too. In other words, the writing is very witty, as in Sturges’ work. However, it produces a very different type of comedy.

The main weakness of the comedy that Allen’s character unleashes is its dated, repetitive schtick. Allen plays a charming, or at least initially, middle-aged blockhead who, while out on an improvised date with a perfume mixer (Kent Taylor), accidentally becomes entangled in a high-profile murder case. In one of the city’s hottest nightclubs, Allen discovers the body of Benny “The Buzzard” Nelson (Lee Moore), a well-known gangster with a seemingly endless rap sheet, who had recently escaped from prison. When the police arrive at the murder scene, Allen, determined to help, delivers an utterly confusing description of her discovery that quickly frames her date as the killer. However, while the “killer” is in custody, the murdered gangster’s girlfriend, Dixie Del Mar (Judith Barrett), a singer at the nightclub, is found poisoned, and the city’s sharpest mind, Philo Vance (Warren William), is summoned to figure out what is going on. Allen then rushes to help again and, fascinated by Vance’s working methods, uncovers enough evidence that the iconic detective is the man the police are looking for.

Unsurprisingly, Allen dominates, and virtually everything that makes the comedy effective is in some way related to her cluelessness and clumsiness. However, it does not take long before the words and actions of her character become entirely predictable, and this development undoubtedly hurts the quality of the laughs. In Sturges’ comedies, the wit is very far-reaching, constantly evolving, and this hurtful repetitiveness never materializes, which is why the overwhelming majority of them still look and feel very fresh today.

The other, smaller, though perhaps unavoidable, weakness of the comedy is the absence of good material that makes the secondary characters intriguing. For example, Vance comes in quite late and immediately gives the impression that he is in a defensive mode, which provides Allen with more time to continue goofing up. Taylor, the nightclub’s owner, his business partner, and the various policemen have even less to work with. Obviously, the imbalance is unavoidable because Allen is supposed to be the catalyst for the funny, but at least Vance could have been a more exciting character.

Alfred E. Green shot The Gracie Allen Murder Case with Oscar-winning cinematographer Charles Lang. Some of its visuals, like the ones emerging during Allen’s improvised exploration of the vacated apartment, are quite nice, and the rush through the city features decent effects. However, Lang’s work in iconic films like The Big Heat, The Man from Laramie, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and Some Like It Hot is on an entirely different level.

The Gracie Allen Murder Case Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1980p transfer, The Gracie Allen Murder Case arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

At some point in the past, the folks at Universal Pictures must have remastered The Gracie Allen Murder Case because it looks quite nice in high-definition. However, this remaster does not appear to be recent, so the overall quality of the visuals is impossible to compare to that of new 2K and 4K restorations we have seen emerge from the major studio. Interestingly, there isn't a single area whose limitations make such a comparison impossible. Declination, clarity, and depth are all quite good, plus the grayscale is managed rather well. Also, there are no stability issues. The visuals simply do not have the freshness and attractiveness that new 2K and 4K restorations ensure. Regardless, there are no traces of problematic digital corrections, and the surface of the visuals is healthy, so when viewed on a large screen, the entire film maintains a pleasing organic appearance. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Gracie Allen Murder Case Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is very healthy and nicely rounded, making it even more obvious that The Gracie Allen Murder Case was remastered. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit and did not notice any unevenness, even in areas like the rush through the city, where some should have existed. The music creates decent contrasts, but they do not have an impact on the intended atmosphere. If there is any room for improvement, it must be in areas where only small enhancements are desirable, though I think that I noticed only one.

The Gracie Allen Murder Case Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Bernie Prokop.

The Gracie Allen Murder Case Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A dominant lead character that destroys logic with the relentless enthusiasm that Gracie Allen displays is bound to rub some folks the wrong way. It is an unavoidable side effect of utilizing the same shtick as the catalyst for all laughs in any comedy, not just The Gracie Allen Murder Case, where secondary characters are easily forgettable. However, Allen is charming, and most of the time it does not look like she is reciting memorized lines, which I found incredibly amusing. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a very nice organic remaster. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.