Hildegarde Movie Collection

 

Hildegarde Withers is a fictional character who appeared in several novels and films.
She was created by Stuart Palmer. Miss Withers "whom the census enumerator had
recently listed as 'spinster, born Boston, age thirty-nine, occupation school teacher'"
becomes an amateur sleuth in the first book of the series. Her adventures are usually
comic but are nevertheless straightforward mysteries. She is a partial variation on
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. "A lean, angular spinster lady, her unusual hats and the
black cotton umbrella she carries are her trademark. ... Hildegarde collects tropical fish,
abhors alcohol and tobacco, and appears to have an irritable disposition. However,
she is a romantic at heart and will extend herself to help young lovers. She
collaborates, and frequently butts heads, with Inspector Oscar Piper, a high-ranking
homicide detective in the New York Police Department.

Edna May Oliver starred in the first three screen adaptations, produced by RKO Radio
Pictures, and is considered the definitive Miss Withers. When Oliver left RKO in 1935
to sign with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, RKO attempted to continue the series with Helen
Broderick and then ZaSu Pitts, but Oliver's presence was sorely missed and the films
were poorly received.

All 6 Movies from Film on 2 DVD's

The Penguin Pool Murder (1932), starring Edna May Oliver
Murder on the Blackboard (1934), starring Edna May Oliver
Murder on a Honeymoon (1935), starring Edna May Oliver
Murder on a Bridle Path (1936), starring Helen Broderick
The Plot Thickens (1936), starring ZaSu Pitts
Forty Naughty Girls (1937), starring ZaSu Pitts

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