Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

ShangLuda Admirable film.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Cristi_Ciopron Almost half of the movie shows a womanizing actor's life of apparently enviable debauchery; several scenes are offered to a chimpanzee's naughtiness and mischief, to old detective Jimmy's singing, etc., while the bare plot was hugely exciting, but squeezed to suit the whims mentioned, and a sort of obliqueness; since I mentioned squeezing, occasional humor is squeezed out of racial jokes, and of all stereotypes, there's a caricature of a Jewish manager, a tandem of cops (Jimmy and Marty), a reporter, but the older detective manages to take over his scenes, anyway the awkwardness, the looseness may be attributed to nonchalance, while the puzzle is given away from the 1st scene …. The murder mysteries, several, are obliquely referenced, which makes the storyline look awkward but enthralling.Once upon a time, movies, and movies like this one, meant a different thing, they were shows to enjoy, and none foresaw they might be, 83 yrs later, analyzed on a website; they were watched in a theater, and were mainly shows, like the TV episodes have been later, 15 yrs after this movie was released.Dorothy Mackaill plays Lola, her character is creepy, but the actress was classier than her colleagues (the tycoon's daughter was appealing only, while the wife was a vulgar shrew). It was her 12th year in the cinema, her 14th if we count the shorts and lost movies from her first couple of yrs. From '55 on (by then she was 52, and a thrice divorcée), Dorothy spent her next decades in Honolulu, for another 35 yrs.

mark.waltz This inconsequential mystery starts off intriguing and descends rapidly from there. Paul Cavanagh plays a Broadway playboy actor who has broken several hearts, tee'd off a few husbands and made other assorted enemies, so when he gets shot in the middle of a party (with the lights all of a sudden going out of course), who is really surprised? The focus goes off the human suspects and onto a trained chimpanzee when detective Jim Hanvey (an over the top C. Aubrey Smith) arrives, and for the next few reels, it's chimp and mouse as the pranksterous monkey even gains a front page headline. Former Warner Brothers ingénue Dorothy MacKaill descends to the skids, receiving only a few moments of screen time as the most vulnerable of all the suspects with the always tough Natalie Moorehead at her typical bitchiest as another predatory female.If there was a bit more focus on the human characters for at least ten minutes, this might have been a fair bottom of the barrel Z-grade programmer. Not enough detail, past the opening flashback of the sins of the soon to be murdered actor, keeps this from really providing an even remotely tense conclusion. While the idea of having a non-human suspect in a murder is an obviously original plot twist, the subtext of comedy behind it all makes the whole thing totally difficult to swallow.

SimonJack Movies like this make me appreciate the technical categories of Academy Awards. In this case, especially film editing and camera work. Both come into question in "Curtain at Eight," along with directing. The cast is mostly OK in this early "B" level mystery, but no one particularly shines in his or her role. The bombastic Sam Hardy stands out some in his role as Martin Galllagher, chief of detectives. Dislikable as he is, his braggadocio helps viewers see the clear difference in the abilities of the two policemen. That probably was intended in the script. We are supposed to like C. Aubrey Smith as the more calm and collected detective, Jim Hanvey. Smith is OK, but there is nothing special in his or any of the other performances. The plot of this film is interesting, and is what kept me watching. But a number of disconnects makes it difficult to follow at times. It jumps around between abrupt scene breaks and suffers from lack of cohesion. Again, that may be the editing. The ending is rather abrupt as well. And though it leaves us with a sense of justice having been achieved, it also reinforces doubt about the police work. And, the character of the police. The production quality is very poor, and even a digital remastering of this film couldn't improve it enough to make it a good movie to recommend. One other reviewer noted the retort by the reporter, Terry Mooney (played by Russell Hopton), to a boastful comment by Gallagher. "Says Hitler!?" surely says a lot about the times. Hitler had only just risen to power in Germany the previous year. The press on him was obviously good enough that the folks in Hollywood already perceived him as a liar and untrustworthy. But then, we should remember that a number of entertainers, writers and other artists were among the early people to flee the Nazis, in the early 1930s.

calvinnme The set up of the mystery is pretty conventional. An over-amorous leading man (Paul Cavanagh as Wylie Thornton) feels like he must mate with every woman between 18 and 35 who crosses his path. All the while he's telling each of them that she is the only one for him. In one case though Wylie over-achieves and actually marries one of the women (Natalie Moorhead as Alma). That is a mystery in itself since Wylie is quite the social climber yet when he marries he does so with his secretary, the two are not living together, and he treats her badly but expects her to keep their marriage a secret. Even stranger is she DOES keep their secret and continues on as his secretary! But Natalie Moorhead does shine in the part of the wife. She sleeps with Wylie when the urge hits her then ridicules him in the morning and demands extra spending money. Maybe that's why he seems to hate her so much - she's the only one of his women who seems to see him for the not so wily ham actor that he is.When Wylie is shot at his birthday party after the lights go out, there are a multitude of suspects. Two detectives are brought in on the case - Martin Gallagher (Sam Hardy), a young detective, is in charge. His subordinate, Jim Hanvey (C. Aubrey Smith), is a much older man. The younger detective is always going off half cocked and jumping to conclusions, and the older detective is methodical and does not confront the younger detective about his careless methods. He just investigates in his own quiet way. In the end, when the younger detective thinks he has solved the crime, Hanvey lets him believe he is right and take the credit because it doesn't mean false arrest for anyone (I'll let you watch and see what I mean), plus, as Hanvey tells the actual killer, he would have done the same in their shoes. Thus the ending is definitely precode in that an actual killer goes unpunished.The unexpected history lesson I was talking about is when one of the reporters is hounding the younger detective for information. When the younger detective tells the reporter something he thinks is ridiculous his retort is "says Hitler!". I guess a popular alternative phrase in 1933 would have been "nuts to you". In other words, in 1933 at least, Hitler was seen as just a buffoonish little man.I'd recommend this as one of the better poverty row productions I've seen. It really is a showcase for C. Aubrey Smith, who usually played supporting roles in films at the bigger studios. Just don't expect much in the way of sets because these smaller studios didn't have the money for such niceties.