If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The concept is good-a tenor singing in an opera production at the Hollywood Bowl is told by a fortune teller not to sing his aria the next day or he will die. Of course that is exactly what happens, and there is a long list of suspects: two mistresses, a Russian tenor who wanted the role, a maniacal composer whose composition the tenor wouldn't sing, the aggravated production director, and others. The police are called in to figure out how the tenor died and if it were foul play.A young policeman, his chemist girlfriend, and the clownish police chief all try to solve the mystery, if they can stop fighting one another. The movie has its laughs, but with an unfortunate-and least credible-resolution. But it was only meant to be a B movie, as other reviewers pointed out, so we shouldn't expect much.

"Moonlight Murder," from 1936, is an operatic mystery. A tenor,Gino (Leo Carrillo), singing Manrico in "Il Trovatore" at the Hollywood Bowl is told by a fortune teller (Pedro de Cordoba) not to perform or he will die. Well, you can't keep a tenor from performing that way. But he does die under mysterious circumstances.Chester Morris plays the detective brought in to investigate. It's a pretty good mystery, and the detective soon learns there are plenty of suspects, including the Gino's cover, who wants to go on in his place, various women, and an escaped lunatic who is angry that Gino did not sing his opera.Some people complained here that there was too much opera. Frankly I could have used more. Of course I love Trovatore. I actually thought the first aria done by Carrillo (who was dubbed by Alfonso Pedroso) was quite good. Most of the singing was okay despite some screechy high notes.A little baby boomer trivia: For us boomers, Carrillo was Pancho on "The Cisco Kid," and the Cisco Kid was Duncan Renaldo - who is listed in the cast here. As a friend of mine used to say, "foreshadowing." Ah, Pancho; ah, Cisco.

There haven't been many musical murder mysteries in the history of cinema: "Murder At The Vanities" (1934) is one, "Moonlight Murder" is another. This is a film of average quality for the most part, but it does offer three novelties: the genre mix, the highly original murder method (which I have only ever seen used in one more film, a "Mr.Wong" entry, which however was made a few years later, so "Moonlight Murder" gets extra points for originality), and the unexpectedly tearjerking finale, which, to be honest, did nearly make me cry, thanks to exceptional work by the three actors involved (of course writing their names here would be a spoiler). Also notable is Benita Hume, who shows more cleavage than you might think was "acceptable" in a 1930s post-Code film! **1/2 out of 4.

Before a rehearsal at the Hollywood bowl, philandering tenor is warned of danger if he sings in the next nights opera by a mystic, The tenor laughs it off. When he's attacked by an escaped maniac everyone thinks that perhaps there is something to it. As show time draws near signs of danger increases until the tenor is killed during a performance in front of 20,000 witnesses. Things get complicated as more mayhem happens. Breezy murder mystery with Chester Morris and Leo Carrillo is the sort of thing that you might as well just sit and enjoy since odds are you're not going to figure it out (The clues are a late in the game revelation-revealed semi fairly). It's a got a great cast some good laughs (of the right sort) and a nicely complicated plot. If there is any real flaw its that there is a too much music. There isn't anything wrong with the opera scenes by themselves, rather its that this film barely runs over an hour and the lengthy singing scenes make the rest of the film feel rushed. Worth a look if you run across it.