It's high time I got the whodunit threads going again. It's been nearly two years since I've started one.
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 17, 2016 07:22 PM)
Generally I start out the whodunit watching season by watching the adaptations of
Mignon Eberhart
novels.
I watched four of them a couple of weeks ago (all of them from the thirties):
Murder by an Aristocrat- a family is being blackmailed by another family member, and this blackmailer is first found injured, then dead.
The White Cockatoo - a man stops in at an isolated hotel for a few nights, and he gets involved in some mysteries dealings (including murder)
Mystery House - a young woman is convinced that her father was murdered (that it wasn't suicide). She invites all the suspects to her country house (isolated, of course) for a weekend of hunting, along with a detective, in order to try to solve the mystery
While the Patient Slept - several family members arrive at the home of the patriarch, who suddenly becomes very ill and unconscious. Meanwhile, another guest is murdered
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = - a family is being blackmailed by another family member, and this blackmailer is first found injured, then dead.
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 17, 2016 07:24 PM)
Of all the 1930s Perry Mason films, the first one in the series (
The Case of the Howling Dog
) is by far the best of them all. I just wish that the same thought and quality had been put into the other 5 Perry Mason films at that time.
The story begins when a young man comes to see Perry Mason about a will and a howling dog. The story is filled with quite a few twists and turns, including an excellent ending. Highly recommended.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 17, 2016 07:29 PM)
There are three Philo Vance mysteries which I make a point of watching once a year:
The Greene Murder Case:
isolated house, a will, a matriarch, murdered family membersjust the way I like it.
The Kennel Murder Case:
definitely worth watching for the ending alone, and for Dr. Doremus' interesting speeches.
Great storyline, with a complicated ending.
The Dragon Murder Case:
a man dives into a pool and vanishes. Sounds like something John Dickson Carr might have written, but nope, this one is by S. S. Van Dine. (Actually, I did read another short story once about a man diving into a pool and vanishing, but I forget who wrote it. This film is based on a novel by Van Dine.) Be on the lookout for Dr. Doremus again.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 17, 2016 07:33 PM)
The Ninth Guest
(1934):
A number of guests, all connected to each other in some way, are invited to a penthouse suite for a party, only there doesn't appear to be a host and they start to get murdered one by one. I really suspect that this was the inspiration for Agatha Christie's
And Then There Were None
.
What's interesting is that this one isn't set in some isolated country house. It's set in a city, in an apartment building. Yet the feeling of isolated is captured so well
Extremely far-fetched mystery, but still well worth a look.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 17, 2016 07:37 PM)
Secret of the Blue Room
(1933):
Very scary film. A young woman is celebrating her 21st birthday with her father and with three men who are in love with her. Her father tells of some mysterious events which took place during several nights in the Blue Room of the home 20 years earlier. One of the young men suggests that the three of them (the three men) prove that they have courage by sleeping in that room, one each night. That's when things begin to happen.
I've seen two other versions of this film. I'll give them all another look and review them here.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(January 27, 2017 12:49 AM)
There are two other versions of this film. All three are remakes of a German film which I'd love to see. I'm sure the German film is very spooky!
Anyhow, here are my thoughts:
The Missing Guest
(1938): a reporter is sent to the house where the Blue Room is located, because this reported is expected to do a write-up on the 20 year old mystery which took place there. The story itself is very good, but the film is a bit ruined by some pretty annoying humor, especially in the first 5 to 10 minutes (or so). Otherwise, it's recommended.
Murder in the Blue Room
(1944): this one's a nice musical, in which three silly but talented female performers are trying to solve the mystery of the Blue Room. The performances are great, and the behaviour of those three singers makes me think of the mystery-comedy
The Mad Miss Manton
(also recommended).
Neither movie is as scary as
Secret of the Blue Room
. Also, the plot of this film is a bit different than the plots of
The Missing Guest
and
Murder in the Blue Room
(those two have very similar plots).
My ranking of the three films:
1.
Secret of the Blue Room- perfection (story, acting, pacing, mood).
Murder in the Blue Room
- almost perfect, but not nearly dark enough for my liking.
The Missing Guest
- good, but weakened by the type of "humor" which some scriptwriters back then thought was necessary for whodunits. I've seen other 1930s and 1940s whodunits ruined by this "humor" (which I call
The Thin Man
-style humor).
Now if I could only see the original German film..
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 02:29 PM)
I can't believe that I forgot to mention this film.
Murder at the Vanities- what a wonderful musical-mystery! The mystery is maybe a bit on the weak side, but the musical performances are terrific, especially leading actor Carl Brisson performing "Cocktails for Two" (a lovely post-Prohibition piece).
For those who want to see women wearing next to nothing, this is the film for you. This pre-Code film had scantily-clad women in a couple of the numbers.
Be on the lookout for Duke Ellington and his Orchestra in one performance. (By the way, this band went on to record "Cocktails for Two", although they didn't have anything to do with that song in this movie.)
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = - what a wonderful musical-mystery! The mystery is maybe a bit on the weak side, but the musical performances are terrific, especially leading actor Carl Brisson performing "Cocktails for Two" (a lovely post-Prohibition piece).
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 02:33 PM)
Two early Charlie Chan films, both based on the novels:
The Black Camel:
set in Hawaii, Charlie Chan tries to figure out who murdered an actress who was there to film a movie. He also tries to link this with a murder which had taken place a few years earlier.
Eran Trece:
This is the Spanish language version of
Charlie Chan Carries On
. A man is murdered on a cruise ship. Soon after, it's discovered that the murder was a mistake, and more murders take place. I wish that more of these Spanish language films had been made, and I sure wish that the English language version of the story (starring Warner Oland) would turn up somewhere!Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 21, 2016 09:45 PM)
Green for Danger
(1946): an old favourite of mine.
A murder takes place at a hospital during WWII in Britain. One of the nurses announces to the other doctors and nurses that she knows who committed the crime and how it was done. Shortly after, she is found murdered as well. An inspector (Alastair Sim) is called in to investigate the crimes committed. Great film with an excellent ending.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 11:03 AM)
An Inspector Calls
is fantastic. Very sad and powerful story. I heard that the play is even darker, since the young woman gets pregnant through rape. Not sure if this is true, because I haven't read the play.
Alastair Sim had a great supporting role in the 1930s mystery
The Terror
. Very overlooked mystery. He only has a small part in this movie, but I think that he steals the show.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
greenbudgie — 9 years ago(November 24, 2016 02:23 AM)
I can remember seeing 'The Terror' where Alastair Sim is very animated but he controlled himself better in later roles. I think that he developed a chuckle similar to Sydney Greenstreet in some of his movies.
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 24, 2016 04:03 PM)
Alastair Sim animated in
The Terror
? Well, he did
pretend to be a minister in order to be admitted to the house
. I've never thought of him as animated in those scenes. Maybe it's one way of looking at it. Personally, I love what he did there.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 09:15 PM)
I'm watching two whodunit-thrillers tonight which I've seen before (both from the thirties):
The Mystery of Mr. X:
a serial killer is on the loose, killing police officers. One of them is killed at the same time and at the same spot as where a thief is stealing a diamond. Soon after, the story in the news is that the man who has the diamond is the killer. The thief must do what it takes to save his own skin (it's shown near the start that he isn't the killer), and this includes proving that a suspect (the future son-in-law of a high-ranking police officer) is not guilty. Great film with a lot of interesting twists and turns.
The Ghost Camera:
a man happens to wind up with someone else's camera. He develops the pictures and sees some surprising shots, including a picture of a murdered man. He decides to make it his business to solve the mystery by using the pictures to help him out. Very interesting film!Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 23, 2016 08:44 PM)
Two 1930s British mysteries:
The Terror:
a couple of fellows are committing crimes (theft) for some leader whose face they've never seen. The leader betrays them and they're thrown into jail for a number of years. Once they're released, they vow to seek revenge on this faceless leader. All they know is that the leader is connected to the people living in an isolated country house. The film starts out as a gangster movie (first 10-15 minutes or so) and ends up as an isolated country house mystery. Alastair Sim steals the show here, as one of the two assistants.
The Shadow:
someone calling him/herself "The Shadow" is blackmailing people, causing many of them to commit suicide. The story is set in an isolated country house where a head cop lives. He's trying to solve this case, and he has to deal with his family, plus some red herrings.
See these films if you like the British 1930s isolated country house setting (blackmail, secret passages, red herrings, etc.) for mysteries. When I watch these, I keep wishing that more of the early Agatha Christie mysteries had been filmed in the thirties.oh well. Maybe someday
Lord Edgware Dies
(1934) will pop up somewhere! Wishful thinking.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
greenbudgie — 9 years ago(November 24, 2016 02:26 AM)
I think that it's a shame that Agatha Christie's creepy house whodunits weren't filmed for the big screen more often. For some reason producers have thought her stories more suitable for British TV where her Miss Marple and Poirot mysteries are very popular.
