Jim Sundean (Ricardo Cortez) is an American expecting to meet someone in Arrien, France. He checks into the quaint Hotel Navaree along the coast. The hotel is run by Marcus and Grete Lovscheim (Walter Kingsford and Minna Gombell). Also staying at the hotel is Sue Talley (Jean Muir), Mrs. Byng (Ruth Donnelly), and Dr. Roberts (Gordon Westcott).
Sue goes walking along the sea and is accosted by a man trying to kidnap her. She gets away and ends up in Jim’s room. Sue tells him about the man but doesn’t want him to call the police. Later Jim hears noises outside and finds the man dead. While looking for clues someone tries to shoot him. The police are called, and the Commissaire of Police (Andre Cheron) thinks that Jim is the killer and takes him into custody. Jim is soon cleared and released but he is told not to leave the hotel.
David Lorn (Addison Richards) arrives at the hotel. He tells Sue that he represents her brother, Francis (John Eldridge). Sue is the daughter of the late Martin Talley. When she was a child her parents divorced, and she lived with her mother in Europe. Her brother lived with their father in New York. Now that both her parents are dead, she and her brother are the sole heirs to the family estate. It has been 20 years since the siblings have seen each other. If she can prove her identity she will share in the estate. Her brother is to meet her at the hotel.
Soon there are more murders and more than one plot to cheat Sue out of her inheritance.
“The White Cockatoo” was release in 1935 and was directed by Alan Crosland. It is an American mystery film. The movie was based on the 1933 novel “The White Cockatoo” by Mignon G. Eberhart.
It is basically an old dark house mystery in a hotel. With lots of twists and turns and the white cockatoo solves the crime. The movie was a lot of fun, very atmospheric and spooky with some very good actors and interesting characters. The sound of the wind added quite a bit to the overall feel of the film. Between all that and Eberhart’s plot, it ended up being a very enjoyable mystery.
I didn’t realize until after I watched the film that it was based on a story by Mignon G. Eberhart. She was a popular American mystery writer from the late twenties up until the late eighties. She wrote over fifty books, nine of which were made into movies.
The film is a clue club mystery. Warner Brothers created the clue club to drum up business. There were twelve films that were part of the advertising gimmick.