The Crime of the Century (Blu-ray)

He couldn’t stop himself from committing—The Crime of the Century! Director William Beaudine (The Old Fashioned Way, The Ape Man) crafts a clever whodunit about Dr. Emil Brandt, a hypnotist who bursts into a police station and confesses to a murder. The only problem is, the murder he’s confessed to hasn’t happened yet—although stolen money and dead bodies soon turn up. A wisecracking reporter tries to unravel the mystery by staying one step ahead of the cops. Based on Walter Maria Espe’s play The Grootman Case, this Pre-Code classic is packed with a star-studded cast that includes Jean Hersholt (13 Washington Square, Heidi), Wynne Gibson (Night After Night, Her Bodyguard), Stuart Erwin (Before Dawn, Our Town) and Frances Dee (Little Women, I Walked with a Zombie).