Trade Winds (1938)

A private detective (Fredric March) is sent to the Orient to arrest a murder suspect (Joan Bennett) who fled the country. He finds her but complications arise when he falls in love with her. Directed by Tay Garnett (THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE), the screenplay was co-written by Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell which might explain the comedic elements to this romantic murder mystery. It's an odd mixture of screwball comedy, romance, murder mystery that opens with Bennett identifying the body of her sister who just committed suicide before she shoots her sister's lover (Sidney Blackmer). Ha-ha, funny, yes? Actually, the romance between March and Bennett isn't very interesting but the movie is fortunate in two of its supporting players who are a pleasure to watch: Ralph Bellamy as a not too smart prudish cop and Ann Sothern as March's brassy secretary. When they're on the screen, your attention is assured. This is the movie where the (naturally) blonde Bennett dyed her hair brunette for the first and it did such wonders for her, she kept her hair dark for the rest of her career. As a blonde, she's cute but as a brunette, she gets a glamour she never had as a blonde. With Thomas Mitchell and Joyce Compton.