So much average

Best movie of this year hands down!

Beautiful, moving film.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

"While the Patient Slept" is a strange film. Through much of the film, many of the actors say their lines way too quickly and there are few pauses in the conversations. It's as if the director realized that plot was too long for a B-movie (which usually clock in at between 55 and 70 minutes at the most) and told folks to talk very rapidly in order to obtain the 66 minute runtime! And, it is like a "Reader's Digest" condensed version of a movie!The plot is a pretty standard B-movie whodunnit. While an old rich man is dying, various family members come to attend him. However, his disreputable son (Robert Barrat) is shot and killed during the night and it's up to an amateur detective (Aline MacMahon) who also happens to be the old man's nurse as well as a dopey detective (Guy Kibbee) and his even dopier assistants (Allan Jenkins and Eddie Shubert) to get to the bottom of it.I have a particular fondness for these sort of murder mysteries and have seen just about every Charlie Chan, Falcon, Saint and Mr. Moto film. However, I must say that "While the Patient Slept" is a very poor one--even if it was made by the premier studio of the day, MGM. It's mostly because of the direction. In addition to most of the folks talking too fast, they often yell, over-emote or talk very loud for practically no reason. The pacing is awful and the performances are among the worst of the actors' careers--and the director is the one to blame. Additionally, the character Jenkins plays is too annoying and one-dimensional--much like the super-annoying detective he played in "Sh! The Octopus". He's meant to be funny...he isn't. Overall, the film comes off as shrill, loud and awful.Incidentally, it is interesting that the film seems to strongly imply that Eustace is gay. See the film and see if you agree.

This is a good old-fashioned Thirties mystery, with comic turns from Guy Kibbee, Aline MacMahon, and Allen Jenkins doing his usual Sheldon Leonard- like one-step-behind sidekick cop. It's based on an early novel by Mignon G. Eberhart, who had a knack for implausible plotting that didn't matter because the action spun everything along at a nice clip. Nice to see Kibbee taking the spotlight, even if in a B movie, because he was such a stalwart supporting player, a familiar face in so many movies of the era. He and MacMahon play well off each other, even creating a bit of a romance, though MacMahon's Nurse Sarah Keate isn't quite as acerbic and witty as the character in the novel. However, the movie has its own charm, spiced with a bit of wackiness, and is a pleasant way to while away a little more than one hour.

When is a Nurse Keating film not a Nurse Keating film? When it's a Hildegarde Withers film. If you liked this one, you'll love the first four of the Hildegarde flicks from RKO. 'While the Patient Slept' is taken from the first Hildegarde story, 'Penguin Pool Murder'. Penguin Pool's plot is different (except for being a humorous murder mystery, but the main characters are the same, and while penguins are the trademark of author Stuart Palmer, here they've substituted a green elephant.I now have a copy of this movie, and that completes both my Nurse Keate and Hildegarde Withers collections. Speaking of rip-offs, if you like the 'Thin Man' Series, try "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford" and "Star Of Midnight," both with William Powell, Bradford with Jean Arthur and Midnight with Ginger Rogers. RKO got Powell on a loan-out and took full advantage of it.

Another little programmer from Warner Bros., complete with authentic old dark house ingredients--lots of atmospheric rain, thunder and lightning to tell a tale of a household full of jealous inhabitants, one of whom (the least likely, of course) is a murderer.Aline McMahon does nicely as a proper nurse engaged to take care of an ill old man and soon finding herself deeply involved in solving the mystery. Guy Kibbe plays another one of his gruff but lovable detectives with dull-witted Allen Jenkins as his not too helpful sidekick.Ray Enright was an old hand at directing these sort of things, a dependable director at Warner Bros. who gets some amiable results from a story which is a good mixture of humor and murderous doings. The finale has all the usual suspects gathered for the unveiling of the murderer--but none of it is quite convincing, even while it entertains and passes the time quickly.