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 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.
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 24, 2016 04:11 PM)
A lot of classic mysteries were done as TV series in the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and on. The TV series make sense because the same actors and sets can be used. Also, they can film a lot of the stories, or come up with their own storylines for those characters. They'd face a lot of restrictions if they tried to film all those stories for the big screen. I doubt that they'd be allowed to release several Agatha Christie adaptations each year for a number of years. They'd have to limit themselves to just the occasional film (for example,
Murder on the Orient Express
and
Death on the Nile
in the seventies).
It was different in the 30s and 40s when a lot of these mysteries were done as one-hour B-movies, aired after the main feature. At that time, there were a lot of Charlie Chan films done (each about an hour to 75 minutes long), with the same leading actors doing a number of the films. Same goes for detectives such as Philo Vance (1920s and 1930s), Ellery Queen (1930s and 1940s), Perry Mason (1930s), teacher Hildegarde Withers (1930s), Torchy Blane (1930s, if memory serves me right), etc. There is a series of film for each of those detectives. I just wish that more of the Agatha Christie mysteries had been filmed during that time. By the time many of them were being filmed (after her death), the filmmakers started with nonsense like transporting the characters to the 1980s, etc. Ugh.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
greenbudgie — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 02:18 AM)
That's good reasoning for Agatha Christie adaptations going missing on the big screen for such a long time. The 'Poirot' TV series with David Suchet seems to evoke an authentic 1930s atmosphere in them.
I still haven't seen the Agatha Christie story 'And Then There Were None' (1945) which is supposed to be the only real good big screen adaptation of hers. I have the 1965 version of it called 'Ten Little Indians' on DVD. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 10:56 AM)
The 1980s Russian version of
And Then There Were None
captures the overall mood, atmosphere, and they come close to getting the ending right. To me, the 1945 film is too lighthearted and they used what I think is the incorrect ending. In my opinion, the book's ending is the only REAL ending.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 26, 2016 09:32 AM)
Apparently there's also a modern version of the story, done as a miniseries. I've heard all sorts of contradictory reviews of that film. Someday I'll see it myself. Maybe.
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
greenbudgie — 9 years ago(December 19, 2016 02:16 AM)
I don't think I will try to catch the porn version of 'And Then There Was None.' I saw the 1974 version of it yesterday in a UK Drama channel Agatha Christie weekend.
It was tiled 'Ten Little Indians but I notice that they use the ATTWN tile for it here on IMDb. I know that I've heard the music that they use after each murder in it somewhere before, so I'm going to check the 1965 version of it to see if the same music was used in that. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(December 19, 2016 12:57 PM)
I have never been interested in seeing the 65 and 74 versions of that story. Maybe someday someone will film a faithful adaptation of the novel, with the correct ending and a horror feel to it.
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(December 29, 2016 10:45 PM)
I was just discussing with someone else the 1934 film
The Ninth Guest
, which I really suspect was the inspiration for
And Then There Were None
. In this film, a bunch of guests are invited to a fancy penthouse suite for a partyand they start to get murdered off, one by one. I especially liked Donald Cook's performance, the way he tries to keep the guests calm, etc. Highly recommended!Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
greenbudgie — 9 years ago(December 30, 2016 01:20 AM)
'The Ninth Guest' sounds really good. I've just read your enthusiastic thread on the message boards for that film.
I must start checking all these old movies on Youtube. I always grab any of those 1930s mysteries if I see them on budget DVD if I can, but they seem to be very rare in that medium. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(December 30, 2016 11:58 AM)
Better to find them on youtube or other places online.
I really don't know why these types of whodunits are so largely forgotten!
Of course, there are a lot of retro whodunits (like the David Suchet Poirot mysteries), but somehow, the ones actually filmed in the 20s, 30s, or 40s have their own charm.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 06, 2017 12:15 AM)
I just watched
The Murder Man
again, a film which I have already mentioned here.
It's a terrific movie. I hope it's one which you will find. It's well worth a look! Great cast as well - Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, Robert Barrat, etc.Proud to be Canadian! -
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 25, 2016 10:59 AM)
I haven't seen the ones you mentioned, but I have seen other retro series, such as the David Suchet Poirot mysteries,
Ellery Queen
(1970s), some of the Miss Marple mysteries, etc. Overall they're very well done, but of course sometimes they slip up with things like hairdos (they'll throw in a modern hairdo instead of one from the correct time period), etc. No big deal. I try to track down mysteries filmed in the 30s and 40s in order to get the authentic feel.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(November 26, 2016 11:38 PM)
The Unguarded Hour
(1936):
Fantastic whodunit-thriller-courtroom drama. (It seems to be a bit of all three.)
Anyhow, the film starts out with a rich and high-profile couple hosting a party. The husband has a chance to move up in position in his job (he's a lawyer). At the party, the wife is blackmailed by a man whose wife was once involved with the ambitious lawyer (years before he was married). She agrees to meet him at a certain time and to receive instructions about where/when to drop off the money and where/when to get the letters which her hubby wrote many years earlier. When she arrives at the designated spot, she becomes a witness to something which becomes a big part of a murder trial her husband has to deal with. Also, later her hubby gets into a scrape of his own.
I don't want to say anything more because I don't want to include spoilers. I'll just say that the film has some great twists and turns, with a terrific ending IMHO.
This film really needs to be better known.
My only problem with this film is that it has a 10 minute stretch which should have been done in about 2 or 3 minutes. Other than that, it's perfection.Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen =
