5 reviews
The greed of a family dominated by the hand of a misery old man.
- mark.waltz
- Mar 17, 2017
- Permalink
Decent Republic Pictures time-waster
Honesty is the best policy
Old man Robert Barrat (Grissly) is on his deathbed and summons his relatives to his house. There will be a will that everyone is keen to hear when he passes away cos Barrat is seriously rich. Well, things don't pan out as anticipated. We get a murder-mystery that carries us through a fairly short duration in which quite a lot happens, so pay attention or you might miss some plot lines.
It's a film that carries you along and serves its purpose as an entertaining mystery-thriller film. A who-dunnit. I didn't guess correctly so I reckon it's a surprise. And Virginia Grey (Katherine) is good in the lead role. There are some good ideas thrown in, eg, 2 bodies in one coffin, and of course, there is a bit of romance at the end. Thankfully, the romantic angle is never sentimental so we get no time wasted on that nonsense.
It's a film that carries you along and serves its purpose as an entertaining mystery-thriller film. A who-dunnit. I didn't guess correctly so I reckon it's a surprise. And Virginia Grey (Katherine) is good in the lead role. There are some good ideas thrown in, eg, 2 bodies in one coffin, and of course, there is a bit of romance at the end. Thankfully, the romantic angle is never sentimental so we get no time wasted on that nonsense.
Good Mystery
Robert Barratt keeps all his relatives in town by threat of disinheriting them if they leave. The only one who had ever defied the edict was Virginia Grey, who married Paul Fix. He turned out to be a bad man. She came back to town, content, even though she had been cut out of the will, to be a servant in her grandfather's house. Now Barratt is dying. He finds out that some of the relatives are going to leave once they get his money, so he calls in lawyer Donald Douglas to change his will. Simultaneously two men get off the train. One is Miss Grey's husband. The other is Paul Kelly, an investigator chasing Fix. Fix breaks into the house, and insists on seeing Barratt. By the time Miss Grey gets up there, Fix is dead of gunshot, and Barratt is dead of natural causes. Douglas follows. He tells her it will look like she shot Fix, so they put him into Barratt's coffin, which has been waiting, and then Barratt on top.
When the will is read, it leaves everything to Miss Grey. All the relatives are disappointed. Kelly wants to know where Fix went; there's no exit from the house save through the front gate, which has to be opened. And an anonymous letter comes to the sheriff claiming Barratt was poisoned.
It's a fair mystery with good players, although the pacing seems a little forced to make it fit into its 72 minutes. There are the usual good Republic Picture special effects used to build the town, particularly the matte paintings by Gordon Schaefer. With Elisabeth Risdon, Clem Bevans, Adele Mara, Byron Foulger, and Grady Sutton among the disappointed heirs.
When the will is read, it leaves everything to Miss Grey. All the relatives are disappointed. Kelly wants to know where Fix went; there's no exit from the house save through the front gate, which has to be opened. And an anonymous letter comes to the sheriff claiming Barratt was poisoned.
It's a fair mystery with good players, although the pacing seems a little forced to make it fit into its 72 minutes. There are the usual good Republic Picture special effects used to build the town, particularly the matte paintings by Gordon Schaefer. With Elisabeth Risdon, Clem Bevans, Adele Mara, Byron Foulger, and Grady Sutton among the disappointed heirs.
Exceptional 'B' mystery-thriller. A lost gem!
The unjustly-maligned Republic Pictures churned out a number of modest 'B' thrillers in its heyday, and this is one of the best. The murder of an eccentric, elderly multi-millionaire brings his money-hungry relatives flocking to his gloomy, isolated mansion--as well as the police to investigate whodunnit. Paul Kelly & Virginia Grey top the cast, the suspense is packed into a swift, unnerving 56 minutes--and the revelation of the killer (trying to hurl Miss Grey to her death from a rickety wooden bridge) is genuinely eerie and terrifying. An "A" job on a "B" budget--which I've been trying to track down for over 40 years to no avail. Will someone please make these forgotten Republic "sleepers" available for cable-or-VHS viewing? "Whispering Footsteps" ranks in the same class and category.