ThiefHott Too much of everything

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

kendavies If you want to see an adaptation of The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins' great mystery story, you will be greatly disappointed by this standard country house whodunit, complete with posh accents to conform to American stereotypes. Collins was the originator of the genre (The Moonstone was the first detective novel in English) and also much better at it than those who followed (Dorothy L. Sayers called it "probably the very finest detective story ever written"). Collins' friend Charles Dickens, for example, though one of the greatest novelists, found it difficult to emulate him (never finishing The Mystery of Edwin Drood). The Moonstone includes elements totally absent from this B movie, including Hinduism, the Indian caste system, narcotics, etc., etc.. The best part of it is the opening with trains spelling out the film company name in a futuristic townscape.

jonfrum2000 Those who have read the classic book by Wilkie Collins should not expect anything similar. Other than a jewel called the Moonstone, that is. The 1933-34 years saw movies that still suffered from the silent film hangover, and some that showed more naturalistic acting. This has some of both, leaning towards the stiffness of the silents. As noted by others, the actress playing the lead is so foolish that it's difficult to care that she's had her jewel stolen. And then there's the scene where she refuses to have her belongings searched for the jewel, which is never explained. And the reveal comes out of nowhere, with no 'detecting' at all. Watch 1933's The Kennel Murder Case for far superior acting and plotting. This movie just doesn't have the right pieces in the right places. It tries, but never really pays off. Still, I did watch it to the fast-arriving end, so I can't complain too much. Worth watching as long as you don't expect too much. Watch it on a dark and stormy night when you have nothing else to do.

bkoganbing Considering that Monogram Pictures had a rather huge novel according to some of the other reviewers to work with, the fact that they cut it down to a 62 minute programmer, 46 minutes in the version I've seen, they came up with a coherent version of The Moonstone. The problem was that at least here the suspense seems to have been drained from it.David Manners and Phyllis Barry head the cast, he as sweetheart and solicitor and custodian of The Moonstone, she as the recipient of both Manners affections and the jewel. A cast of usual suspects supports them, but if you can't figure out who the culprit might be on this dark and stormy night, you don't even need to have seen too many of them.There is an interesting gimmick in the story involving one of the leads, but I won't go further lest you want to see the film. Still it might have been done better by a major studio.

GManfred Despite the hackneyed premise and milieu, the stage was set for a pretty interesting murder mystery. It is a 'gloomy-mansion-on-a-dark-and-stormy-night' movie, which can be very absorbing if done right. It had a good collection of characters/suspects and got off to a good start.All of sudden came the scientific-drivel denouement, the deus-ex-machina, which was both cynical and anti-climactic. This was the best the author could do? And why the rush to a conclusion? the story is short enough as is. Good performances all around and the production values were very adequate, considering this was a Poverty Row production.Sorry I can't recommend this one, but I still have a lot of movies left in my DVD collection. On to the next case.