What are the best 30's mysteries?

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What are the best 30's mysteries?
Topic Started: Jun 26 2009, 03:09 PM (716 Views)
Sgt King	Jun 26 2009, 03:09 PM Post #1
Charter Member Posts: 371 Group: Members Member #29 Joined: September 5, 2005	I’m trying to make a nice DVD package of 12 or so 1930’s American mystery/thriller films together as a gift to a friend who can’t get out much and doesn’t have cable. Not looking for stage-bound talky ones or anything from the 40’s like the Sherlock Holmes. I would like these to be the very best, intelligent mysteries like: The Kennel Murder Case, The Thin Man (1st one only), The Dragon Pool Murder, Murder on the Blackboard, Murders In The Zoo, etc. I don’t care if they are officially released on DVD or not. May I please poll your collective thoughts on this? Thank You.



Ignatz Ratzkywatzky	Jun 26 2009, 07:00 PM Post #2
Charter Member Posts: 748 Group: Members Member #28 Joined: September 5, 2005	In my opinion, the greatest mystery film ever made is Chinatown (1974). It wasn't made in the 30's, of course, but it was set in the 30's. I also enjoy the blend of mystery and comedy in the The Thin Man (1933) and The Cat and the Canary (1939). While the 30's is my favorite era for comedies, most of the mysteries I love come from the 40's, with the adaptation of 30's hardboiled pulp--The Maltese Falcon (1941); Grand Central Murder (1942, a guiltier pleasure); Murder, My Sweet (1944); Out of the Past (1947), and The Third Man (1949). Of course, none of that really answers your question.
	Read reviews, news, and features from the world of soused cinema at "Booze Movies: The 100 Proof Film Guide." http://boozemovies.com/


Brick Bradford	Jun 27 2009, 06:58 AM Post #3
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 61 Group: Members Member #43 Joined: September 9, 2005	The Perry Mason Series with Warren Williams is a good bet for your collection. Brick Bradford(Handsomest Hero in Serials and overlooked by the big studios for A pictures)



CliffClaven	Jun 27 2009, 07:47 PM Post #4
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 228 Group: Members Member #712 Joined: March 30, 2009	Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes both make it under the wire as 30s films. And they were done as expensive period films at Fox, giving a different vibe than the later series. To smuggle in one more 40s title: And Then There Were None, the first and best version of the Agatha Christie book/play. It's been remade and parodied endlessly, but it's still funny and entertaining on its own non-ironic terms.



panzer the great & terrible	Jun 28 2009, 06:52 AM Post #5
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,301 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	I'm afraid that's about it for thirties mysteries. The only other one I can come up with is Murder at the Vanities, and that's not interesting for the mystery angle. The Forties were a richer field.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


Brick Bradford	Jun 28 2009, 07:12 AM Post #6
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 61 Group: Members Member #43 Joined: September 9, 2005	There are the Arsene Lupin movies and a little number called The Bat w/Chester Morris that is a pretty good little thriller. Brick Bradford (Handsomest Hero in Serials)



Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Jun 28 2009, 09:10 AM Post #7
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	The Old Dark House is a bit of a mystery. Universal's Horror Island came out in 1941 (It's close). I also enjoy The Black Raven, although it's also a 40s film.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Kashimo	Jun 28 2009, 06:05 PM Post #8
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 67 Group: Members Member #159 Joined: December 12, 2006	Seven Keys to Baldpate (1929) with Rhichard Dix



mort bakaprevski	Jun 29 2009, 03:13 PM Post #9
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,428 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	I recently purchased 6 “old-dark-house” films from Alpha for a Survivor Game (Poverty Row Mystery/Horror Movies from the 30’s) I’m playing on another site. The price was right: less than $5/film given that one was a two-fer. Out of the six, my favorite was ONE FRIGHTENED NIGHT, produced by Mascot in 1935. It was directed by Christy Cabanne (the man who makes William Beaudine look like Alfred Hitchcock) and starred Charley Grapewin (the poor man’s Lionel Barrymore… except I think he actually invented the cranky old man shtick that Barrymore used). Mr. Affable (Regis Toomey) is the “juvenile” (as they used to refer to them) and Fred Kelsey & Adrian Morris do their usual “dumb cop” roles to perfection. This time Clarence Wilson turns up as a (dishonest?) lawyer & Rafaela Ottiano shows once again why she shoulda got the role of Mrs. Danvers. Wallace Ford is, as expected, irritating (at least he is to me), but Hedda Hopper is terrific. Fun flick!! However, what really made this a standout (for me) is that it contains a treasure trove of Abe Meyer music. The only film I can think of that might have more is THE RETURN OF CHANDU. There are over ½ dozen themes utilized including my three favorites (“Stealthy Footsteps”, “Dance of the Furies” & one I’ve never been able to find the title to). “Stealthy Footsteps” is used three times (once under the credits) & the last version is so long, I heard parts that were brand new to me. Poverty row it may be… but a fun way to spend a little over an hour!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


panzer the great & terrible	Jun 29 2009, 05:31 PM Post #10
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,301 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	Nice to hear something good about Hedda -- a spunky performer. If I had been a star in the day she would have gotten all my scoops.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


Zodiac	Jun 30 2009, 05:13 PM Post #11
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 172 Group: Members Member #334 Joined: January 17, 2008	Thank you for the recommendations- it gives me something to research - Could we expand to the 40s? I am trying to expand my library and i know i have missed some real gems and this is the forum with the answers ' Thanks



panzer the great & terrible	Jun 30 2009, 07:51 PM Post #12
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,301 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	Well now, that's different. The Forties were all about mysteries. I'm going to step in before anybody else does: The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, Out of the Past, And Then There Were None, The Reckless Moment -- those are my favorites. I'm sure the fellers will come up with at least a hundred more.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


CliffClaven	Jun 30 2009, 11:30 PM Post #13
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 228 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.



Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Jul 1 2009, 02:58 AM Post #14
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	If you like your 40s mysteries French Fried, I'll say Le Corbeau (The Raven). I'll also go out on a limb and say Citizen Kane. It isn't a whodunnit, but it's a mystery none the less.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Black Tiger	Jul 1 2009, 07:38 AM Post #15
Charter Member Posts: 1,812 Group: Members Member #50 Joined: September 15, 2005	One fun B from Republic is Up In The Air (1940). It stars Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland trying to solve a murder at a radio studio. Quite a few serial alumni including Lorna Gray, Tris Coffin, Dennis Moore, Carleton Young and Gordon Jones. Last Crooked Mile (1946) is another Republic who-dunnit with Don Red Barry as a wisecracking reporter who comes out of the tunnel of love roller coaster with a dead body in the back that wasn't there before (!) One of my all-time favorite murder mysteries of the period is The Ninth Guest (1934) starring Donald Cook. The plot concerns a number of people invited to a party in a penthouse. They find they are trapped there and are killed off one-by-one by a mystery person who speaks to them through the radio who has a grudge against each of them. Sound familiar? It's based on a play by Owen Davis - whose work preceded Agatha Christie's own novel.


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