The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (MGM LE Collection)

Dead bodies are starting to pile up. First it was one of Malcolm's chickens, the unfortunate victim of a hit and run. Then Oscar, the local milkman, was hit by an arrow, just after dodging a glass-breaking bullet while in Malcolm's office. The third and most sordid situation involved the motel room death of Susan, a goat that someone had dressed in lacy women's undergarments. Might these three unexpected endings be connected? Can Malcolm, the owner of a chicken hatchery who's now decided to dabble in private investigation, make sense of it all? Is The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery too silly to be funny?

Starring Gabriel Dell as Malcolm, the film clearly takes its inspiration from more serious-minded endeavors that often sprang from the pen of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. There's occasional voiceover narration and longwinded monologues delivered by Dell in faux hardboiled fashion. A femme fatale or three pops up, including Oscar's widow (played by Nita Talbot) who wants Malcolm to locate her missing (and, unbeknownst to her, dead) husband but not before she strips out of most of her clothes and does a little seduction on the new private eye. There's a bartender (Nicholas Colasanto, later to serve drinks more famously on Cheers) who speaks in nothing but cliches and platitudes. Moreover, about an hour of the film's short eighty minutes is told in flashback by Malcolm, who's recounting the previous seven hours of his day to a pair of policemen who, beforehand, inexplicably left the room.

Yep, it's silly and quite strange but not in the slyly irreverent way one might want. Beyond just comedic ambitions, the movie sometimes feels like a spoof, like a less manic cousin to The Naked Gun and its progeny. It tweaks those forties detective stories and the seventies updatings in vogue at the time but without any real purpose or influence. Much of what we see or hear about, like the mysterious and mythical manchu eagle, feels like a MacGuffin, something with false significance. The picture proves most entertaining as a consequence of the sheer oddness at play, which manages to raise a little tingle of curiosity in the viewer. For those who rightfully cherish the very sorts of movies this film is poking fun at, it can really go either way. On the one hand, there's no reason to approach it all without a sense of humor and the recognition that too much uptight seriousness tends to be an easy target at which to poke fun. But from the other side, The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery doesn't really do a particularly good job of satirizing its inspirations. The convoluted nature of the plot does bring to mind some of Chandler's more intricate stories, though obviously never approaching the brilliant storytelling (i.e., how we're taken from one point to another) which is often as much the point of these things as the narratives.


Setting aside the larger merits of the picture's aims, there are a good number of little joys to be had here. For one, the lead actor Gabriel Dell gives an effectively oblivious performance. Dell, who co-wrote the screenplay, made his screen debut all the way back in 1937 with Dead End and continued appearing with the young toughs known as the Dead End Kids or the Bowery Boys in a series of  films, including Angels with Dirty Faces. One of his more prominent co-stars in those pictures was Huntz Hall, who also appears here as Deputy Roy. (Jackie Coogan, the first major child movie star after appearing in Chaplin's The Kid in 1921, plays the police chief.) The nod to old Hollywood is thus rather strong, at least superficially. References, not mean-spirited but still with tongue firmly in cheek, are made to a "Clyde Beatty" who potentially corrupted the hid away daughter (Anjanette Corner) of the town's wealthiest man (a cackling, hammy Vincent Gardenia) and, visually at least, the blood-squirting cinema of Sam Peckinpah. The latter scene, a three-way shootout, is an unexpected hoot.

Small screen veteran Dean Hargrove got his only non-television feature directing credit on The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery, which he also wrote with Dell. The direction itself is pretty pedestrian and nondescript, but it's kind of funny to see Hargrove, who built his career producing crime of the week shows ranging from McCloud and Columbo to Matlock and Diagnosis Murder, here helming a satirical approach to detectives and investigation. The frequent transitions to black as the action shifts give the movie a TV feel, making it seem a tad lightweight. A couple of one-scene supporting performances balance things out for the positive. Barbara Harris, superb as always, plays Oscar's suicidal mistress and also reveals some of the more odd predilections he had for animals. As the town's pill-popping, gossipy doctor, Will Geer very nearly steals the entire movie. More time with these quirky characters might have been nice. As it is, the film makes for an uneasy recommendation because of how uneven it is overall but there are enough unique and memorable aspects to intermittently reward the viewer's curiosity.

The Disc

As part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection, The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery is contained on a single-layered DVD-R.

The enhanced widescreen image is absent any damage but does have a rough thickness to it. Movement lacks fluidity and some noise is present. Hardly a great-looking transfer, this nonetheless appears entirely presentable and shouldn't be an obstacle to viewing. Colors look dull but not necessarily untrue. Detail and sharpness are a bit lacking, overshadowed by the heavyish grain. It's in approximately the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, though windowboxed with thin black bars around all four sides.

Audio is generally clear. The English mono provided accommodates a not terribly active track. Dialogue comes through cleanly. Something I did notice was a tinny, echo-ish effect at times when the character Jasmine Cornell is in Malcolm's office and is speaking. This certainly could be something inherent in how that particular scene was recorded because it's rather abrupt and not a nagging problem. No subtitles are provided.

There are also no extra features of any kind included with this release.

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