this fantastic whodunit be an early prototype of what soon become a very popular film genre . i be happy to see william powell handle a detective story with charisma and charm and and without the silly attitude of his nick charles character ( from the thin man series ) . while the story be good on it own and i think what really make this movie fun to watch be michael curtiz fantastically imaginative direction . from a visual point of view and this be a richly textured movie and with curtiz show an incredible command of the medium while from split screen image and to weird camera angle and imaginative flashback and curtiz demonstrate that he be one of the best hollywood director . highly recommended if you be fan of this type of movie .