Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

This is quite a good film, certainly better than I usually expect from 1933.First off, it is fast-paced. You won't get bored.Second, the premise is that modern technology (such as it was in 1933) can solve any crime...provided you have open-minded police investigating the crime. This "new" technology is constantly featured as the story progresses.Third, there's some pretty good acting here.On the negative side, this isn't a story where they give you clues so that you can begin to figure out who the murderer is. Instead, it's one of those where you learn facts right along with the police. That may sound good, but it always makes me wonder if they are just making it up as they move forward, rather than that they have it all planned out when they started the script. So are they plot twists, or are they screenwriters just saying, "Okay, what do we do next?" George Brent is very good here as a thinking detective. Margaret Lindsay was good as a murder suspect and love interest or Brent. Poor Eugene Palette...an amusing character actor who, in this film, plays a sort of dumb detective; not his best role, but okay. Always glad to see Henry O'Neill, a fine character actor who played a police inspector here. A different role for Hugh Herbert, still an odd ball, however, as a bail bondsman. Unfortunately, Ken Murray is here as a newspaperman; I never understood the attraction; he's a drag on the film.This is as good a crime drama as I've seen from these days. Less stereotypical as I film than most crime dramas of the era. I liked it.

***SPOILERS*** Murder and blackmail is on the menu of this crime flick that takes place mostly in police headquarters with Lou Ann Winton, Margared Lindsey, accused of killing rich antique gun collector Gordon Bates, Kenneth Thomson, with one of his antique guns. There's no denying that Bates had it coming with him drunk and on drugs trying to force himself on Lou Ann but she claims she had nothing to do with his death and seems to be covering up for the person who in fact did it.In trying to find Bates's killer Let. Stevens, George Brent, soon comes up with a number of suspects who have as much reason to have killed Bates as Lou Ann did including her hot headed and red haired,a strand of red hair was found at the murder scene , brother Jack Ted Newton, who doesn't deny that he was there. But it's later found out with blackmail letters written in invisible ink there was another reason to knock Bates off that had someone very close to him who just have enough of his actions and took the law into his own hands.***SPOILERS***The big surprise in all this is that yes another murder was committed that really had nothing at all to do with who murdered Bates. That was when the blackmailer feeling he was going to be exposed had his flunky murdered to keep him from talking. The big mistake on the blackmailer's part was that he murdered him, like the Lee Harvey Oswald killing by Jack Ruby, right inside the police station and was spotted by someone there hiding the murder weapon, a straight edge razor, in a spittoon. Razor sharp and restored black & white photography as well as crisp sound recordings not only makes the movie, now over 80 years old, watchable but we also get to see the back then state of the art police science-fingerprints ballistic and blood-work-that helped in solving the case.

From Headquarters is a rather contrived and convoluted murder mystery but its brisk running time of 64 minutes and economic cross cut editing give the film more of a vitality than one would expect with the stolid George Brent in the lead. Clichés abound but a gallows humor among the precinct set nullifies them much of the time as the cops turn the screws on the suspects and the supporting cast steals most of the film.It's another day down at headquarters of processing common criminals and chasing leads while reporters slovenly lie about waiting for a big story which comes in the way of the murder of a lecherous, blackmailer. Detectives Stevens (Brent) and Boggs (Eugene Palette) are given the case but approach it differently. Forensics meanwhile jumps into high gear gathering evidence through devious means and the killer as well as the victim remains in doubt until the final moments.With the exception of the retiring Brent From Headquarters entire cast plays it broad and over the top. Margaret Lindsay's suspect and also the ex of Steven's divides her time between being stilted and hysterical while Palette's Sgt. Boggs spends the entire film lunging like a mad bulldog at all the suspects. In the same respect Hugh Herbert's overzealous bail bondsman, Robert Barrat's unctuous rug dealer and Edward Ellis's dark humored pathologist fit well into the spirit of the film.Director William Dieterle and cameraman William Rees provide a decent look and rhythm to From Headquarters most of the way evoking in moments comparison to His Girl Friday and The Detective Story but its incredulous story line can only elevate it at best to a decent Charlie Chan.

FROM HEADQUARTERS (1933) is a very interesting movie about a police investigation into a murder. The action takes place entirely within police headquarters, as cops interview suspects and scientists analyze evidence.The movie is short and sweet (just over one hour long), filled with an entertaining cast of characters (ranging from policemen to news reporters to bail bondsmen), and quite enjoyable. It offers a fascinating look into the cutting-edge forensics of the day (how science was used to solve crimes). The movie shows how fingerprints are obtained and matched up. It mentions blood testing and autopsies. And there's a neat look at ballistic analysis (comparing marks on fired bullets).George Brent, Eugene Palette, and Henry O'Neill play the police investigating a murder case. They parade in a string of the dead man's associates and each offers their piece to the puzzle of what turns out to be a very eventful night for the deceased. Each successive suspect's story is shown in a short point-of-view flashback, picking up where the last witness left off. The "whodunit" aspect is a little convoluted, but as the day goes on, developments in the lab shed new light on the case.Edward Ellis (THE THIN MAN) plays the lead scientist, who relishes each breakthrough in the "lovely murder". It seems like Warner Bros. wanted to show theatergoers some of the cool new forensic strategies and technologies, and even though science has come a long way since 1933, it's still an interesting look back in history.FROM HEADQUARTERS is not a top-shelf murder mystery or police procedural, but it's quick and fun, with some racy pre-Code material, a lighthearted sense of the macabre, and a unique historical value.Directed by William Dieterle (THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR - 1936, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME - 1939) and also featuring Hugh Herbert, Robert Barrat, and the lovely Margaret Lindsay.6+/10