What whodunits did you see/hear/read?

[kjrwe]

Thanks for the heads up, greenbudgie! 

[kjrwe]

More 1930s thrillers-whodunits...I can't seem to get enough of those:

Murder on the Campus

Murder With Pictures

The 13th Man

The King Murder

Murder by the Clock

[greenbudgie]

Is 'Murder On The Campus' the 1961 British film? I saw it under the title 'Out Of The Shadow' recently on Talking Pictures. I've got it at No. 50 on my crime list (link on the last post on page 7 of this thread). I like the film's poster on the American release titled 'Murder On The Campus.' The candle on the skull looks real murder mystery artwork.

I saw 'The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case' yesterday (anniversary of Oliver Hardy's birthday). It's got the feel of those creepy old house films of the 1930s. I like the rubber-faced butler in that. "You're wanted on the telephone...downstairs."

[cigar joe]

The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes (1970) enjoyable, had never seen it before I'll go a 7/10

[kjrwe]

I was talking about the 1933 film Murder on the Campus.

Thanks for your contributions, greenbudgie and cigarjoe! 

[greenbudgie]

I was talking about the 1933 film Murder on the Campus.

I've found the 1933 'Murder On The Campus.' Looks good.

I've just watched 'The Gelignite Gang' (1955). It's more of a who's-up-to-what rather than a whodunit. It's difficult to tell who is crooked and who's not. I recommend it for any fans of the British B-crime film. It's currently No. 78 on my crime list.

[kjrwe]

Thanks for the recommendation, greenbudgie!

Here are my recent viewings:

The Case of the Black Cat: my second favorite of the 1930s Perry Mason films, but it's not nearly as good as The Case of the Howling Dog. I think that The Howling Dog is an absolute classic.

The Case of the Velvet Claws: my third favorite of the 1930s Perry Mason films, but it's quite weak compared to my top two. Too much idiotic humor introduced.

The Hidden Hand: fun early 1940s isolated house mystery. I like the eyes in the portraits, trap doors, secret passages, etc.

Grizzly's Millions: a terrific 1940s whodunit-thriller. I admit that I didn't guess the killer in this one!

Le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune: also a great early thirties isolated mansion thriller (French language), complete with mysterious characters, secret passages, creepy masks, etc.

[greenbudgie]

'The Hidden Hand' sounds right up my street. About the Perry Mason titles. I didn't know before that he went back to the 1930s. Have you got a favourite Perry Mason actor?

A whodunit I saw recently is 'It Happened In Soho' (1948). It takes place in the London Soho underworld. Mostly in a café where the serial killer may be one of the customers. A really creepy reveal scene. It is currently No. 70 on my crime list.

[dave jenkins]

The Case of the Black Cat: my second favorite of the 1930s Perry Mason films, but it's not nearly as good as The Case of the Howling Dog. I think that The Howling Dog is an absolute classic.

Apparently it was so highly regarded that when making the 50s TV show with Raymond Burr they remade it as one of the series episodes.

[kjrwe]

I didn't realize that "they" highly regarded any of the serious 1930s mysteries. Seems to me that "they" just rant and rave about the "humor"-filled junk like The Thin Man.  I have given those Thin Man films several chances each and I have never been able to finish them. A pity that so many of the mysteries which followed had idiotic humor thrown in, probably because the films were supposed to be like The Thin Man.

To greenbudgie: yup, six Perry Mason stories were filmed in the thirties. If you're only going to see a couple of them, I recommend Howling Dog and Black Cat.  Perry Mason was played by Warren William and Ricardo Cortez, respectively, in those films. Both of them did a good job. I'm fond of both actors. I've seen each of them in a handful of mysteries and I like them both.

By the way, recently I saw a handful of early 1930s short films based on short stories written by S. S. Van Dine. These films were nicely done.

[greenbudgie]

Thanks K for the Perry Mason recommendations. I've looked through S. S. Dine on IMDb. I had heard of his Philo Vance detective character before. But I've yet to see the three Philo Vance adaptations of the 1940s.

I saw a whodunit on Saturday. It's 'Shadow On The Stairs' (1940). It's about murders that occur in a London boarding house. Being an all-under-one-roof whodunit it is really stagey stuff which I actually quite like. It's currently No. 31 on my crime list.

[kjrwe]

I think I've seen the British film which you mention. Here are my recent viewings, by the way...:

More 1930s mysteries:

The Black Doll

The Mystery of the White Room

The Witness Vanishes

I'm just amazed at how many obscure mysteries I've seen this past month alone! It's too bad that the 1930s isolated mansion genre isn't better known to the general public.

The ending of The Witness Vanishes really floored me. Wow!

[greenbudgie]

I wondered if you might have seen 'Shadow On The Stairs.' It has Turhan Bey in a turban in it if that rings a bell. Some people might not like the type of ending that it has. You have intrigued me with mention of the ending of 'The Witness Vanishes.'

I've just seen 'Charade' for the first time. I can't remember if it is one of your 1960's binge movies or not. But I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It does have a whodunit element about it. Not an obvious choice but I have added it to my crime list.

[kjrwe]

Yup, I have seen Shadow on the Stairs. I wasn't bothered by THAT sort of ending, but I remember thinking that the film itself wasn't all that interesting.

I absolutely adore Charade. I always watch it back to back with The Pink Panther (from the same year). I love the music (Henry Mancini) in both films, along with the clothes, cinematography, hairdos, storylines...

The first part of Charade which I saw was the ending, where the killer is revealed. So when I first saw the entire movie, I knew whodunit. Doesn't matter. It's still a film which I can watch over and over again.

By the way, I've been busy re-watching some of my newest discoveries, such as:

One Frightened Night

Midnight Mystery

The Rogues' Tavern

The Witness Vanishes

etc.

For those who are wondering about titles of obscure mysteries of the 1930s, I recommend you do a search for authors such as Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, John Dickson Carr, Stuart Palmer, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Mignon Eberhart, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ethel Lina White, Earl Derr Biggers, S. S. Van Dine, Dorothy Sayers...and look up which of their stories were made into movies in the thirties.

For other titles, do a search using key words like "murder", "mystery", "13th" (and other numbers), "night", "terror", "death", etc.

Happy searching! The movies are well worth seeing. Well, most of them are. 

[greenbudgie]

I absolutely adore Charade. I always watch it back to back with The Pink Panther (from the same year). I love the music (Henry Mancini) in both films, along with the clothes, cinematography, hairdos, storylines...

The first part of Charade which I saw was the ending, where the killer is revealed. So when I first saw the entire movie, I knew whodunit. Doesn't matter. It's still a film which I can watch over and over again.

Henry Mancini's 'Charade' music is good. The theme tune stayed in my head for a couple of days afterwards.

I've seen three crime films from the 1930s in the last few days. But none of them fit into the whodunit category. One thing I've noticed about some 1930s features is the slow build-up. Nearly all the crime action takes place in the second half. I nearly give up on 'When London Sleeps' (1932) but the last 40 minutes were terrific.