The Complete Adventures of Hildegarde Withers

 In 1936, the "voluntary" Motion Picture Production Code came into effect and the nature of American films changed, with all manner of "mature" content and themes being toned down in the interest of proper moral standards. In some cases, perhaps it resulted in better films, but evidence points to that being a rarity. To see how the life and creative energy was sucked out of films, all one has to do is look to the Hildegaard Withers series.


Hildegarde Withers was an aging school teacher in the mold of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, only more sarcastic. In the first couple films in the series, she had an interesting relationship with a crappy homicide detective, Oscar. It was one that was easily understood as the kind of romantic (and possibly physical) relationship that might develop between two intelligent and mature individuals who were both intelligent and shared similar interest and values. It was all very tastefully done, and strongly implied rather than shown, but by the fourth film, all hints of the relationship was expunged. The reason? I think it was primarily the fault of the Production Code.

There were other issues with the quality of the films as the series progressed, but one can't help but wonder if it wouldn't have remained stronger if Hildegard and Oscar's relationship hadn't bowdlerized. A total of six "Hildegard Withers" films were released, although toward the end, Oscar was more of a lead character than she was. This is only fair, from a certain point of view, since James Gleason played Oscar in all five films while Hildegarde was played by three different actresses--Edna May Oliver, Zasu Pitts, and Helen Broderick. 

Click on the links below to read the reviews of the Hildegarde Withers Mysteries here at Shades of Gray.

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