This is an enjoyable kooky whodunnit comedy--the sort that were popular in the 1930s and 40s. In many ways, Joan Blondell and Melvin Douglas play characters like Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man series--except that instead of working together, they work against each other through much of the film.

The film begins with Douglas owning his own detective agency. However, he has no clients and is forced to go back to his old job as an investigator for the District Attorney's office. However, when his wife (Blondell) is alone in the soon to be vacated detective office, a perspective client enters--and she decides to take the case herself. After all, she thinks, if she can solve the case then maybe the agency could succeed--and make Douglas happy because he would rather be a private detective.

In a funny scene, the couple goes out for a night on the town. Douglas does not know that his wife is working a case and she spends the evening keeping an eye on a suspect for her client. The problem is that the next day, the client's husband is found dead and Blondell investigates it for her client while Douglas also investigates it for the D.A.--and he STILL doesn't know she's involved. In fact, many times she uses her inside track to trying to solve the crime. When Douglas finally wises up to what's going on, the sparks really fly.

What I particularly liked about the film is that while Blondell is sometimes very clever, other times she's a total moron. Too often in these sort of films, the wife is too smart and too competent. Here, however, both Douglas and Blondell have their strengths and deficits. I also loved the great dialog between them--it's very well written and funny. In particular, however, since they are supposed to be married, Douglas is NOT the most gentlemanly guy--often tossing his wife around and even having her arrested.

Overall, while the mystery isn't that mysterious, the characters and acting are very good--making this an enjoyable little romp--and nearly earning an 8 (this was a close one).

Party mystery, part screwball comedy There's Always A Woman features Melvyn Douglas and Joan Blondell as a man who opened a private detective agency and his ever helpful wife.

Douglas had worked for the DA's office as an investigator and felt he was in a career rut so he opened a private agency. As clients haven't been flocking to his office he's ready to go back to work for DA Thurston Hall, But Blondell says she wants to keep the agency open just in case.

No sooner does Douglas get his job back than in walks a client Mary Astor. She plunks down 3 century notes.which pays a lot of back rent and she wants Frances Drake who has been carrying on with husband Lester Matthews.

She does some surveillance in a madcap sort of way at a nightclub. The next day Matthews is shot to death and Robert Paige who had made some threats at him is arrested.

Douglas gets the investigation at the DA's office and Blondell keeps going on her investigation. She's from the Lucy Ricardo school of criminology and will have an awful lot of 'splaining' to do eventually.

Three years later Mary Astor and Jerome Cowan who plays a gambler in There's Always A Woman would be part of the immortal cast of The Maltese Falcon. And ironically in this film both would have the same function.

Columbia might have made more of these had its stars not been tied to other studios. But Blondell was with Warner Brothers and Douglas with MGM. The two had a good chemistry and Blondell is a hoot.

A good combination of genres is There's Always A Woman.

Bill Reardon (Melvyn Douglas) is a struggling private detective. His wife Sally (Joan Blondell) had push him into quitting a well paying investigating job in the DA office. He goes off to get his old job back. Famous socialite Lola Fraser comes in looking to hire an investigator and Sally promptly takes the job pretending to be an investigator. She starts investigating behind her husband's back which gets complicated when the DA office gets involved in a murder case.

The one and only issue I have is Bill's constant physical fake-outs against his wife. He keeps pretending to hit her and missing by the barest margin. He even throws something at her. It's another era and it's supposed to be funny. It's like Ralph Kramden. It hasn't aged well. Otherwise, the combative rapid-fire banter is fun.