I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

I almost always like Herbert Marshall films and "The Solitaire Man" was a huge disappointment. While it started off well enough, it really became a boring and highly clichéd movie when it came to the airplane sequence.The film begins with an elaborate flim-flam scheme in which some rich lady buys a necklace she THINKS is worth a fortune. You then learn that these two women are in league with Oliver (Marshall). However, Oliver and the young lady crook have decided to marry and she assumes this means an end to their lives of crime. However, Oliver wants a final big score and as he's sneaking in to steal a valuable necklace, a murder occurs! Another thief is there and shoots a detective who's waiting for him...and Oliver uses the confusion to get the necklace.When the film switches to the airplane on which Oliver and his two friends are traveling, the film grinds to a halt. Much of the next 20- 30 minutes consists of folks talking and talking and you learn that a detective or police informer is among the passengers. None of this is really interesting or worth seeing...and it's filled with so many silly clichés. I really HATED how Oliver kept making brilliant educated guesses based on no evidence whatsoever! It's a shame, as this final portion seems like it's from a cheap Monogram or Grand National film...not a picture from a quality studio like MGM!

"The Solitaire Man" is a slick, stylish,sophisticated thriller, a throwback to an era when spinning a good yarn was more important than bloating the budget or running up the running time. When we first meet Herbert Marshall as Oliver Lane, he has a small problem. A Paris-based master criminal, he's about to retire to Devonshire, marry Elizabeth Allen as his fetching accomplice and turn from safecracking to milking cows. But a drugged-out henchman has committed a robbery that could get them both sent to the slammer -- and Lane has no choice but to reluctantly return the loot. How that leads to a plane bound for London, a battle of wits with Lionel Atwill as a mysterious Scotland Yard inspector and the contribution of an American socialite played with mirthful glee by Mary Boland takes up much of the movie. The result is tight, taut, cleverly directed by Jack Conway and a lot more modern -- in style, dialogue and devilish humor -- than most of the movies made back in 1933. Or a good many made since.

While it has its moments, I'm on the negative side of things with this film.It's another of a sub-genre of films I've always disliked. The primary genre was very common in the early to mid 1930s -- how the upper class lived. I always found the emphasis on that to be rather a bore. The sub-genre I like even less -- jewel thieves stealing from the upper class.Having said that, I will give the film a few points for casting...and few subtractions for casting. First, there are two actors in the film that I always enjoy, and here is no exception. Herbert Marshall was a fine actor, and here he plays a jewel thief desiring to get out of the racket and marry. I also always find May Robson a welcome addition to almost any film. Elizabeth Allan does well enough here as the romantic interest. Mary Boland is a hoot as the loud-mouthed American on the plane. On the negative side -- Ralph Forbes, the third of the thieves. Wow, could that man act! Well, no, not really...at least not in this film. But he certainly could overact! More than a third of the way through the film, Lionel Atwill comes on-board (literally on a plane)...but is none to impressive here.In terms of the story, like any number of early-1930s films, this script has some holes in it, including sudden plot changes that don't quite make sense. At one point, Atwill even calls Herbert Marshall by the name of Atwill's own character (how did that get by Hollywood's most prestigious studio?). Frankly, once on the plane, the writers tried to get rather clever with the story line, but ended up making the film rather inane at points.So my advice? Well, if you have a specific reason for wanting to watch the film (as I did, being a bit of a fan of Herbert Marshall), do so. Otherwise, pass it by...there's lots better from the early 1930s.

THE SOLITAIRE MAN is a superb example of how MGM was head and shoulders above the other studios during this era - quite obviously a "B" movie, barely running an hour, it nevertheless boasts superior actors (several of them major film names) and an elegant polish that most other studios wouldn't have bothered with for a programmer.Herbert Marshall stars as the leader of a small "family" of con artists, when a faux son steals a priceless necklace Marshall attempts to return it, knowing the protégé would be the obvious suspect when it is noticed missing. While he is in the home attempting to put the jewels back in the safe, another burglar breaks into the home and was spotted by a patrolling policeman. The second burglar kills the inspector which Marshall witnesses but can't see the murderer. Later as he attempts to flee the country with his accomplishes on a small plane, secrets and double-crosses are revealed during the long flight.This comic crime-mystery is mainly worthwhile for the sole chance to see two of the 1930's greatest character actresses, Mary Boland and May Robson, together in the same film. These ladies, with Edna May Oliver, were the queen bees of character players of the era along with superstar Marie Dressler. Miss Boland is second-billed but doesn't show up until the film is almost half over, she quickly earns her star billing with a delicious turn as a brassy rich American who finds herself in unusual circumstances. Miss Boland is hilarious as always but here voicing her role in a boorish unsophisticated loud drawl rather than her normal dizzy musical tones. It's a superb characterization and she is matched by that wonderful septuagenarian May Robson as a presumably cultured society woman who is pretty blunt and earthy herself.Jack Conway, one of MGM's major directors, does a fine job here with this limited material and when the second half-hour is almost completely set inside a small airplane passengers area it's scarcely noticed given the fine direction and acting. The entire cast is quite good and it's intriguing to see Marshall, Miss Robson, and Elizabeth Allen - all British or Australian - not cast as Americans as they usually were in Hollywood films. This little film is fairly predictable in it's denouement but with a fine cast, sharp direction, and some good wisecracks, it's well worth your time.