Early Mystery and Mayhem Treats
By
Kristin Battestella
The
1930s and 40s provide an abundance of quickie B pictures ranging the crime,
thriller, mystery, and horror genres. Though often obvious, unintentionally
humorous, not that scary, and flawed due to off the time filmmaking and old age
wear and tear, these movies are enjoyable little time capsules nonetheless.
Crimes
at the Dark House – Inspired by The Woman in White, this 1940 hour has
loud, snap, crackle, and pop sound accenting the focus on Tod Slaughter’s (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet
Street) debauchery and would be fraud. The bludgeonings, theft, and assumed
identity happen quickly, but the fortune doesn’t come so easy thanks to the
usual stuffy old ladies, scheming lawyers, and blackmailing doctors. Enough
carriages, costumes, well-dressed sets, and Victorian flair forgive the anachronistic
bobs on some of the damsels, and the instructing the chambermaid in her bedroom
duties innuendo is interesting. The ladies here must do as their masters’ wish,
and oft Slaughter director George King uses the fast, intense dialogue to keep
the illicit relationships, lecherous personality, and plot twists moving. How
far is this charade going to go? What’s going to happen next? Perhaps the story
is predictable for today’s audiences, but we’re more interested in seeing
Slaughter’s Percival succeed in his ruse – more so because his distracters are
just as devious. Although there is a rush and quick finish due to the short run
time, shadowed, ghostly figures and a scary death or two set off the built-in
risk of discovery suspense, and plenty of action throughout makes for an entertaining
little piece.
The
Drums of Jeopardy – It’s tough
to tell who is who amid over the top gesturing actresses, sarcastic dames with
guns, and one cranky old lady – not to mention the flat black and white video
quality and jumping sound in this 1931hour-plus based upon the novel of the
same name. There are difficult to read inter-title styled letters and
telegrams, too, but when Warner Orland’s (Charlie
Chan) mad and vengeful doctor is bemusingly named ‘Boris Karlov,’ viewers
are going to tune in just for the novelty alone. Fun early laboratory designs
and effects are also so Art Deco or post-Edwardian that the style almost feels
Steampunk when watching today. Goggles, flashing lights, lightning, wind
effects, and smoking beakers amid the Victorian suits and décor go a long way
when fog and darkness make the primitive train, boat, and fight scenes
difficult to see. Early heist and adventure film design also take shape thanks
to a Bolshevik Revolution escape, Secret Service intrigue, and the eponymous
stolen rubies being used as revenge calling cards. Yes, the required heroic
couple and other clichés are goofy now, the inevitable coppers are on the
investigation, this isn’t horror by any means, and the entire tale should be
better than it is. However, a good looking restored print might do wonders in
setting off the revenge, crime, mood as the initial saucy suggestions, budding spooky
atmosphere, and suspense in wondering who the crazed doctor is going to get
next and how make for an intriguing little mystery.
The
Mummy’s Hand – Be he curse
protector or resurrection accomplice, George Zucco (Dead Men Walk) is slick as ever in this 67 minute 1940 Universal
sort of sequel that’s otherwise lacking in the expected Mummy stars such as
Karloff or Lon Chaney, Jr. These different characters create more remake than
follow up feelings, and after awhile, these Mummy films do seem somewhat the same anyway. There’s a little too much humor
and bumbling rivalries away from the titular action for this installment to be
scary, too. Who has the money for the expedition? Who doesn’t want the
archaeology to happen? What’s pretty daughter Peggy Moran (King of the Cowboys) doing pointing a gun at folks? Wallace Ford (The Rogue’s Tavern) is also an
unnecessarily fast talking swindler sidekick for by the numbers Dick Foran (The Petrified Forest), and the
then-modern Cairo
pre-war styles and colloquialisms slow the plot down when there’s no time to
waste. Fortunately, despite the black and white photography, the opening
Egyptian flashback provides the expected regalia and spooky curses. Perhaps
this entry is typical or nondescript in itself, but its fun for a classic
marathon. When we finally do get to the tomb robbing action and Tom Tyler (The Adventures of Captain Marvel) as the
murderously lurking about Kharis, this becomes a pleasant little viewing with a
wild finish.
The
Shadow – Audiences today may
find talk of $200 as outrageous bribery, well, outrageous, but it’s surprising
to see such frank depression era financial blackmail, disgraces, and suicide
shockers in these 70 minutes from 1933. The blacked out screens and gunshots
won’t scare modern audiences, yet the unseen vigilante and the titular fog,
effects, and tricks don’t look that bad. Certainly, the haughty RP voice
supposedly coming from the silhouette is bemusing, but the simple shadows
against the wall and dark figure camera blocking make the viewer pay attention.
Of course, the poor print quality doesn’t make it easy to see all the
delightful mansion décor and period fashions nor read the newspaper text and
the standard spinning headlines. The editing is dull and plodding, too, and otherwise
fine suspense music is seemingly misplaced over the wrong empty scenes.
Exposition, Scotland Yard idiocy, and time away from The Shadow can be tedious
as well. However, there is a reason to the who is who, stiff upper lip men, and
tea timing ladies – anyone learning how to do a cliché Brit caricature can get
plenty of ideas here! Despite distracting, annoying people, we want to know
who’s behind the veil. How will each of our victims fall and why? Though not
new, this is an interesting concept, and I wonder if there are modern films that
could be so crafty and not show anything but the killer’s fedora. This one will
be tough to get thru for hyper audiences, but seeing it to the end for the
killer’s reveal is worth the wait. In fact, this one should be watched at least
twice just for the Clue-esque clues.
Crimes at the Dark House is also available on Hulu, while The Drums of Jeopardy can be found on Internet Archive, and The Shadow is at Pub D Hub.
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