THE EX-MRS. BRADFORD

 

THE EX-MRS. BRADFORD is a 1936 light-comedy/mystery film from RKO, starring William Powell and Jean Arthur (pictured above). 

By the time this film was made, William Powell had plenty of experience in the lighthearted mystery genre, having already played Nick Charles, Philo Vance, and many other lawyers and detectives. The twist in THE EX-MRS. BRADFORD is that Powell's character, surgeon Dr. Lawrence Bradford, is not a mystery buff. The person who is mad about solving crimes here is Bradford's rich and daffy ex-wife Paula (Jean Arthur). 

A jockey dies while riding a favored horse in an important race. The horse's trainer and the ex-Mrs. Bradford are convinced it's murder, and they convince Dr. Bradford to look into the affair. After the trainer is found dead at Bradford's swanky apartment, the doctor himself becomes a suspect. Bradford sleuths out the culprit, with the help (and hindrance) of Paula. 

THE EX-MRS. BRADFORD may not be a spectacular film, but it is well-made and enjoyable. The ultra-smooth Powell successfully co-starred with just about every notable leading lady of 1930s Hollywood, so it's no surprise that he and Jean Arthur are a delight together. Arthur is a tad more dizzier in this movie than usual, but she's also more glamorous as well, with a high-class wardrobe. Eric Blore (as one would expect) is Dr. Bradford's butler, James Gleason plays a hard-boiled police inspector, and among the suspects are such character actors as Robert Armstrong, Ralph Morgan, and Grant Mitchell. 

The method behind the murders is inventively unusual, and the story is opened up with a sequence at an actual horse racetrack. The typical "gather all the suspects in a room so the murderer can be revealed" climax is given some spice by having Bradford show the assembled group newsreel footage taken at the racetrack, showing the killer at work. 

THE EX-MRS. BRADFORD was directed by Stephen Roberts. This was his last film--sadly he died of a heart attack (at only 41 years of age) in 1936. Because of his early death Roberts is almost unknown today, but he also directed one of the wildest Pre-Code movies, THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE. 

Seeing such light comedy masters as William Powell, Jean Arthur, and Eric Blore at work is one main reason to watch THE EX-MRS. BRADFORD. The movie is a great example of how fine and efficient the 1930s Hollywood studio system could be.