Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

utgard14 An inventor is killed and a boring investigation ensues. A B murder mystery starring Bela Lugosi with wooden performances from most of the cast, save for two cringeworthy turns from Hattie McDaniel and Allen Jung as stereotypical servants. It moves along at a snail's pace and struggles to maintain even a little suspense. The biggest selling point of this today is not Bela; he's very subdued in this and therefore not that interesting. The main reason to see this is for the fascinating historical elements. We get to see some early television technology and get an idea of how people viewed the concept of television back then. It's fun to watch a group of stuffy old people in tuxedos and gowns sitting around in stiff Victorian chairs to see a demonstration of this newfangled invention called television. Worth a look for Lugosi completists or anyone interested in television history.

Rainey Dawn I will have to echo other reviewers on this film. Bela as always is great... he maintained his dignity and was wonderful in this rather so-so film. The movie has the potential to be a really good, cute mystery-thriller with a few good laughs thrown in for good measure - but it failed to reach that point. It's not a downright awful movie but it's not as good as one would hope it to be. It's somewhere in the middle ground. It is a slow film, I like some films that are slow but this one could have used a bit quicker pace with some interesting scenes added - like seeing the twins Dr. Arthur Perry / Edwin Perry together (both played by Lugosi).Watch this film for Bela Lugosi. You will get to see him playing twins (duel roles) which in itself is fun - something a little bit different for Lugosi fans.5/10

binapiraeus This isn't the kind of movie for today's film fan who just wants old-fashioned mysteries with as much suspense and atmosphere as he can get, neither for those who are looking for sheer, funny entertainment - it's a REAL time document about the development of television (the enormous importance of which people simply don't think about anymore when they turn on their flat screen HD TV to watch a live football game or a thriller full of computer effects), about the fights between the few companies that existed then for every innovation of that new medium (which were of course worth millions at that stage), about the excitement that the first live broadcasts brought to people at that time.It also displays a couple of more or less (in)credible technical and electrical devices like the 'criminal mind detector' or the 'death ray' - which may make us laugh today, but most certainly impressed the audience of the 30s enormously - we always have to take into account how people saw those movies that we've got the privilege to enjoy now, about 80 years later, BACK THEN! The pace of the movie itself is comparatively slow - perhaps deliberately made so in order to enhance the suspense that the audience felt THEN about that incredible live broadcast everybody was awaiting eagerly. The plot, seen as a murder mystery, is made quite complicated by the big number of suspects, and some dialogs may seem a little lengthy; but the philosophic Chinese house boy (a Charlie Chan fan) and the resolute black cook make up for that with quite some comic relief.And then, of course, there is the movie's star - 'the center of attention', as he calls himself at one point humorously: Bela Lugosi. And he CERTAINLY proved once more here with his dominating, simply magnetic, sometimes seemingly dangerous, sometimes charming and gentleman-like performance that he was capable of playing a LOT of other roles than that of the vampire or the demented scientist!

Hitchcoc Slow moving, confusing, unsatisfying, dull. And these are the good things. A murder is caused by some unknown. It involves the premier of a television process that takes us all over the world through video. We have two Bela Lugosi's for the price of one. The plot is convoluted and hard to decipher. In the end, Lugosi two makes a long meandering speech, solving the crime. Listening to his accent laden diatribe is the highlight. When you get right down to it, the only thing of any value here is the title. There are lots of close ups of guilty looking people. The suspects stand around in a line like they are posing for a family portrait. There are also two racial stereotypes: a young Chinese man and that frantic woman from "Gone With the Wind," Hattie MacDonald. One speaks Charlie Chan English and the other runs around saying "Lordie, Lordie!" What a stretch.