Murder Goes to College is a weird little relic

If you have a soft spot for 1930s mystery movies where everyone talks at 100 miles per hour and smokes in every single room, Murder Goes to College is worth a look. It’s not exactly high art, but it’s got that specific, scrappy energy that feels like a B-movie trying its absolute best to be an A-list thriller. Don’t expect to be intellectually challenged here, folks.

The whole thing kicks off with a professor buying the farm in his office. Naturally, the suspects are lined up like they're at a bus stop. You've got your standard-issue mobster, a disgruntled sister, and a whole faculty full of people acting suspicious for reasons that aren't ever really cleared up. It moves so fast you might miss why anyone actually cares about the murder in the first place.

Lynne Overman plays the detective, Hank Hyer, with this kind of tired, cynical charm that I honestly really liked. He’s joined by Roscoe Karns, who plays a reporter. The two of them have this back-and-forth rhythm that’s surprisingly snappy. Sometimes it feels like they’re in a totally different movie than the rest of the cast, who are all playing it very straight and very serious.

There’s this weird scene where the elevator boy just... slinks around. It’s supposed to be suspenseful, I guess, but it mostly just feels like he’s lost and looking for a sandwich. It’s those little, messy details that make me think the director just wanted to get through the day.

Buster Crabbe shows up as the gangster, Strike Belno. He looks like he’s having a good time playing the bad guy, even if his motivations are as thin as the office walls. He’s got this intensity that feels out of place among the stuffy professors, which is actually a nice bit of contrast. 🎭

The dialogue is packed with so much slang that I had to rewind a couple of times. It’s not quite as charming as Go-Get-'Em, Haines, which had a bit more punch to the pacing. This one drags in the middle when they start interviewing the dozen professors. Seriously, why are there so many suspects? It’s hard to keep track when half of them look exactly like the other half.

I found myself zoning out a bit during the janitor’s testimony. The movie tries to build tension with pistol shots and locked doors, but the stakes never really feel that high. It’s a bit like watching a game of Clue where everyone forgot the rules.

• The lighting in the office is weirdly dramatic for a university.
• The reporter’s hat spends more time on the desk than on his head.
• I’m still not 100% sure why the mobster cared about applied math.

If you like movies that don't take themselves too seriously, this fits the bill. It's not as sharp as some of the noir classics, and it’s certainly not as bizarre as What! No Spinach?, but it’s a decent way to kill an hour if you don't mind a little bit of chaos. Just don't look for a coherent mystery, because you won't find one.