GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

phildtm I won't rehash what the other reviewers have said, other than to say that most were a bit too generous. Even though this B-movie had a running time of only 67 minutes, it seemed to me more like 3 hours, as the whole story was so tedious. Everything about it is flat and stale - the production values, the acting, the writing, and especially the "humor". I am guessing it seemed old hat even in 1941. I gave it a watch because Marian Marsh was in it, and she was incredibly captivating in several of her films of the 1930's. Here she is mostly wasted. There is one basic principle shortchanged here, and it is one that I believe is basic to any kind of drama (comedy or serious, from wild fantasy to kitchen-sink realism) - the sense that those involved in the production - from the writer to the director to the actors - are playing for keeps, giving it their best. That doesn't happen here - everyone seems to be "phoning it in".

classicsoncall Well you'll have yourself some fun with this murder mystery even if it turns out to be somewhat nonsensical by the time it's over. The family of sixty five year old Cassandra 'Cassie' Denham (Sarah Padden) is trying to have her declared incompetent so they can get a crack at her three million dollar estate. How nephew Garson (Gavin Gordon) figured he could argue that point by mentioning a five hundred dollar unsecured loan she made to someone on a handshake just made me shake my head. Who was the real crazy one here?During the course of the story, one of the characters mentions that it has all the elements of a good murder mystery, if by that you mean a midnight invitation to a spooky old mansion, a mysterious set of eyes under a hooded mask peering through sliding doors, and a pair of bodies falling out of a closet more than once. I was surprised they didn't use the old lights out trick here as that would have been standard for the era and quite to be expected.Even with the dead bodies turning up, this one never gets to be all that serious, as New York Evening Star reporter Bob White (Wallace Ford) keeps things light with photographer sidekick Eddie (Herb Vigran) and girl friend Nora O'Brien (Marian Marsh) along for the ride. You won't believe Aunt Cassie's solution to the problem of turning up the murderer; I think she really might have been crazy after all. You don't want to think too much about this one once the final credits roll because when it's all over, the three million was in Confederate bills and the house was up in flames. On top of that, Cassie was going to get married. If you tried to come up with this yourself, you wouldn't be able to do it.

Hitchcoc This is a formula piece. It's been done a hundred times. The greed of the relatives causes them to try to get the old lady committed. Their motives are so obvious that any chance they had goes down the tube within minutes. Now they're in over their heads and have to use their resources to survive. Meanwhile, the red herrings start swimming upstream. I should have hated it, but the crazy overacting and general being of the film are rather pleasant in a maniacal sort of way. The conclusion is satisfying and justice is done. The one drawback is that the bad guys are so pathetic and incompetent that they don't pose much of a threat.

MarcoAntonio1 Talk about screwy films! "Murder By Invitation" almost takes first place! A daffy old lady, Aunt Cassie (a terrible performance by Sarah Padden who seems to be reading her lines off of cue cards) invites her greedy relatives to her country estate for the weekend and murders start to pop up all over the place. A reporter (Wallace Ford) and his secretary (Marian Marsh) arrive at the estate to get the scoop. Minerva Urecal (whom I usually like) overacts here as one of Aunt Cassie's relations. J. Arthur Young is totally offbeat as Trownbridge Montrose (Aunt Cassie's neighbor). Dave O'Brien is good, as usual, though as the estate's chauffeur. Zany dialog is almost unbelievable at times and Ford (although likable) is too old to be pretty Marsh's sweetheart boss. In spite of itself, "Murder By Invitation" is a film that works, although I don't quite know how!