Viewing Single Post From: What are the best 30's mysteries?

Viewing Single Post From: What are the best 30's mysteries?
CliffClaven	Jun 30 2009, 11:30 PM
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 229 Group: Members Member #712 Joined: March 30, 2009	We probably should try to draw a line seperating noirs that aren't actually mysteries. Maltese Falcon and Big Sleep both at least begin as whodunits, but Out of the Past doesn't have the required can-you-solve-it mystery. That said, I'm going to throw in a few curves: Cat and the Canary and Ghost Breakers -- Bob Hope wisecracking through murder plots. The first is a remake of a great silent mystery/comedy; the second is a clone that was remade itself by Martin and Lewis as Scared Stiff. Who Done It? and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff -- Likewise, but with Bud and Lou losing the plot for long stretches of slapstick. In the latter, Boris is actually just one suspect in the case -- but a flashy one. The former is not to be confused with Whodunit, a pre-Angels Benny Hill comedy that's actually more of a spy spoof. The Verdict -- Sidney Greenstreet (a disgraced Scotland Yard inspector) and Peter Lorre (a playboy artist and murder buff) in gaslight London. It looks and sounds like an ordinary locked-room murder with a short suspect list, but the story is really about some more complicated issues. Lady in a Train -- Singer Deanna Durbin plays a bit sexier than usual as a flighty blonde who sees a murder from a train window (paging Miss Marple). You're never sure if you're laughing at this one or with it -- they seem to mock the whole notion of working in songs for Durbin -- but it is entertaining. The Black Cat -- A 1941 Universal B with Bela Lugosi as a butler who might have done it and Basil Rathbone as a suspect who mocks the hero by declaring, "Now he thinks he's Sherlock Holmes!" Spellbound -- Hitchcock really wasn't a whodunit man -- usually there's suspense because you know damn well who the killer is -- but this qualifies because there's a puzzle and a killer.


What are the best 30's mysteries? · Who Done It?