Summer Under the Stars 2025 — The New-to-Me Movies, Days 18 to . . .

I’m finally coming into the home stretch, y’all, and wrapping up my coverage of the new-to-me movies from last year’s TCM Summer Under the Stars event – just in time for this year’s event! Here goes . . . August 18: James Gleason – Murder on the Blackboard (1934) These two made quite a team. This mystery-comedy stars Edna May Oliver as schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and Gleason as gruff, world-weary inspector Oscar Piper. Murder on the Blackboard was the second of six RKO films featuring these two characters (Gleason appeared in all six; Oliver was featured in the first three. In the fourth, Helen Broderick played Hildegarde, and Zasu Pitts starred in the last two.) Here, a teacher at Hildegarde’s school is found murdered and she and Inspector Piper team up to solve the crime. I found it to be just okay – as I noted in my previous SUTS review post, I have to finally admit that, as a rule, I’m really not a mystery fan. Also, a little Edna May Oliver goes a long way with me, if you…