Ethel Lina White and The Unlocked WIndow on Hitchcock

Most of the Charlie Chan films I've seen are from the mid-1930s throughout the late 1940s. Titles that come to mind are "Charlie Chan in the Wax Museum", "Murder Over New York" and "The Trap". A lot of people dislike the Monogram Charlie Chan films, but I do like them.

The main thing I didn't like about "The Thirteenth Chair" (1929) was Margaret Wycherly's performance. Which really surprises me because I liked her in films such as "Keeper of the Flame" and, especially, "White Heat". I just found her way too over-the-top in "The Thirteenth Chair".

I've seen the 1917, 1929, 1935, 1947 and 1983 versions of "Seven Keys to Baldpate". The daytime for nighttime shots of the 1917 version are funny. I didn't care for Phillip Terry's performance in the 1947 film (RKO originally wanted Jack Haley who might have been even worse!) However, there's something about this version that I like.

I bought the DVD set that "Mystery House" is included in. I was pleasantly surprised by the film and I really enjoyed it. I also bought the DVD "The White Cockatoo" and a very old digest edition of the novel. I'd like to see the other films you've mentioned. I plan on seeing them whenever they are shown on TV (or are on YouTube).

Regarding Seven Keys to Baldpate: I like the 1947 version, but it's not a favourite of mine. I have given the 1935 film two chances, and each time I found it to be very plodding. In the 1947 movie, the leading actor was a bit too Ellery Queen-ish. Perhaps this actor was taking advantage of Ellery's popularity at the time. Personally, I love Richard Dix in the leading role (1929). He is such an underrated actor.

I've noticed that there are two "types" of ending to this story. I like the way the 1929 and 1983 films ended.

A lot of mysteries from the 20s, 30s, and 40s I found simply by doing searches for keywords such as "murder" and "thirteen". I discovered the bizarre 1932 mystery The Thirteenth Guest that way.

One which I really love is the 1934 mystery-musical Murder at the Vanities. That one is most certainly worth a look, if you can find it.

Silent mysteries:

-- The Cat and the Canary
-- The Bat
-- Midnight Faces

One of the silliest mysteries which I've seen is House of Mystery (1934, I think). That's the one where an ape is supposedly terrorizing the people in the house.

I also found it helpful to look up the filmography of various classic authors, such as Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Mignon Eberhart, Stuart Palmer, Edgar Wallace, etc.

Two Edgar Wallace adaptations which are worth a look are Before Dawn (1933) and The Terror (1938). The first I saw on youtube. The second was public domain for awhile and it was on its IMDb home page. Supporting actor Alastair Sim steals the show in The Terror, I think.

I just love, love, love those isolated house/hotel mysteries!

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

Gene Raymond overacted in the 1935 version of "Seven Keys to Baldpate". It seemed like he was copying George M. Cohan's facial expressions in the 1917 version. I purchased copies of the novel and Cohan's stage adaptation. I, too, like Richard Dix. He was very comical. I also like the trick endings of the 1929 and 1983 versions. The endings of the 1917, 1935 and 1947 versions are very run-of-the-mill.

I've seen "The Thirteenth Guest" and I liked it. I tracked down a copy of the novel which the film resembles to a point (a private investigator tries to uncover a mystery for a young woman at an old mansion). Ginger Rogers is very cute in the film. She made another thriller I've seen "A Shriek in the Night". Stardom with Fred Astaire was just around the corner. I haven't seen "Murder at the Vanities" yet.

I've seen three versions of "The Cat and the Canary": 1927, 1939 and the 1978 version which is very weak. I've seen four versions of "The Bat": 1926, the 1930 version called "The Bat Whispers", 1959, and the 1960 TV-Play with Helen Hayes. And the marvelous curio "Midnight Faces". I saw "House of Mystery". It is a truly a dreadful film. It is the one with the ape terrorizing people.

I've seen Edgar Wallace's "The Terror" and have also read the novel (which was based upon his stage play). Likewise, the 1939 film "The Dark Eyes of London" (released in the USA as "The Human Monster") where liberties were taken with Wallace's novel. Also, "The Door With Seven Locks" (released in the USA as "Chamber of Horrors"). Wallace's novel is a totally different story.

Speaking of remakes, how could I have forgotten the most awful remake of them all...1975's "The Spiral Staircase"? What a waste of time! One wonders why on earth they bothered. It was worse than the 1985 remake of "An Unlocked Window". Jacqueline Bisset and Christopher Plummer had only their paychecks to be grateful for and one wonders if their paychecks were worth it.

I wanted to like the 1935 version of Baldpate. I like other mysteries from that time period, but this one was just very dull, especially compared to what they did in 1929. The actors in the 29 film were so full of energy...so enthusiastic...

The "trick endings" are a good idea. If memory serves me right, the play ends that way. It makes sense for this type of story (the author having to write the book in a certain period of time). I found the novel to be very plodding. In fact, I don't even recall the films being faithful to the novel. I'll take the film adaptations any day.

I seem to recall reading The Thirteenth Guest, but I seem to recall giving up on that story as well because it didn't seem to be going anywhere.

I've seen the 1927 and 1939 versions of The Cat and the Canary. I can imagine that the 70s version is weak compared to the others. I found the 1920s version of The Bat a bit hard to get through. I probably won't bother with the other adaptations. (I have no problems with silent films. It's just that this story was a bit weak.)

House of Mystery is so bad that it's good, I think.  I haven't seen the 1975 film The Spiral Staircase...probably never will.

I've tried to read some of Edgar Wallace's stories, but I just couldn't get into them.

I don't buy too many mysteries. Mostly I get them from the library. Hard to find the older, out of print books in public libraries, but many university/college libraries have them. I've made use of the interlibrary loan feature, in which I request the books through my local library and they try to find the books for me in other cities and provinces (I'm in Canada, by the way).

Have you seen the 1946 film Green for Danger? I love that mystery.

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

I agree with you about the 1929 version. Richard Dix gave a good performance. I have seen Gene Raymond do better work in other films than his 1935 version. The novel was modified for the play. Sometimes, these books can be hard to get through. I wouldn't be reading them if I hadn't seen the films. I often buy a book after I've seen the film version so I can see how they differ. Rarely do the screenplay writers stay astonishingly faithful to the book.

What makes some of these older films hard to take is the excruciating performances by supporting players. Odd ball acting by those portraying "comic" maids, handymen, cops, etc often spoil a film. The women who played the maids in "The Bat" (1926), "The Bat Whispers" (1930) and "A Shriek in the Night", and the actor who played the dumb cop in "The Thirteenth Guest" often ruin scenes for the sincere performers with their downright bad acting.

I found "Green for Danger" on the website Video Dailymotion. I've been watching a lot of films on that website lately. I thought it was odd how the opening credits of the film said "presenting" Alistair Sim. I've seen this happen with Jean Simmons. It was as if the studios were presenting them over and over for the first time. Anyway, thanks for recommending another good film to me. Incidentally, "House of the Long Shadows" is on Video Dailymotion right now.

Good point about the supporting players. Some of them were extremely over the top, like Allen Jenkins in a couple of the Perry Mason films. He was fine in the first one (Howling Dog). As for dumb cops, that seemed to be pretty standard in those days. The detectives always outdid the cops. I agree that the cop in The Thirteenth Guest was extremely dumb....a very extreme case.

I love Green for Danger. I've seen it so many times in the past 10 or so years. Alastair Sim was such a top-notch actor.

Another terrific mystery-noir is The Verdict (1946), starring Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. That film has one of my favorite endings ever. It's also a locked room mystery, which is an added bonus. I love locked room mysteries. I've read a bunch of the ones written by John Dickson Carr, and they made my head spin, but they sure were creative! He wrote some fantastic radio plays, which are part of the Suspense series (posted on archive.org).

Thanks for the tip about Video Dailymotion. I've never heard of that site until you mentioned it.

As for staying faithful to the books...if the screenplay writers stuck closely to the book more often, they would have had some really terrific film. I think that some of those mysteries were spoiled by minor changes which the writers introduced to the movie script. For example, why was Perry Mason turned into a drunk in a couple of those movies? Totally unnecessary. Sometimes their minor changes result in plot holes, too.

One of my pet peeves is when they decide to have a 1930s or 1940s mystery set in the time that the movie was made (especially in the eighties), instead of doing a retro-1930s or 1940s film. For example, the 1985 film Thirteen at Dinner....great acting and they were faithful to the book, but the eighties hairdos really got to me. It's an early 1930s story, NOT a 1980s story! Ugh....oh well.

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

"The Verdict" is another one of those wonderful films I'd discovered on TCM. I had read the cast and synopsis when it was showing on TCM. I had a feeling I would love it and I did. I need to buy the DVD. Since you love locked room mysteries, I suggest you check out "Uncle Silas" (1947). It's dripping with atmosphere and is based on a classic novel. Wonderfully creepy film!

Yeah, Perry Mason drunk in some films is offbeat and really unnecessary. I liked "The Case of the Black Cat" (1936). It's a Code film and it's as clean as a whistle. I bought the novel in paperback. I want to see "The Murder of Dr. Harrigan". I love the star of that film. Unfortunately, it's not on YouTube, Video Dailymotion and is not available on eBay or iOffer. I'll wait for TCM.

Anachronisms is a pet peeve of mine. There are a lot of movies made during the 1960s which were meant to take place in the 1930s. Yet the fashions, hairstyles and make-up are clearly 1960s. It is annoying when they update a film to an inappropriate era that is totally out of place for the vintage story. It can often ruin the mood and imagery of the film when it's been updated.

Thanks for the tip on Uncle Silas. I haven't heard of that one!

The Case of the Black Cat is a good story. I think that they started to go back to the more serious storytelling by the time they got to that film. Still, I think that Howling Dog is superior.

In the case of Thirteen at Dinner, they decided that the story should be SET in the 1980s. The problem with having these older stories set in more modern times is that plot holes will result. In modern times, we really aren't as isolated as people could be in the thirties. DNA testing means that one dead body can't be substituted for another. Security cameras: harder for a criminal to sneak in somewhere without being seen at all. The list goes on.

Anyhow, in Lord Edgware Dies, there is the one issue where a character can't be spotted easily because she is wearing a beret which covers part of her face. Those kids of berets were in style in the early thirties. But then they decided to have the adaptation (Thirteen at Dinner) set in the mid-80s. Those kinds of berets weren't in style then. Who would have been wearing one? I do like the title change, though. Thirteen at Dinner is a better title for that story than Lord Edgware Dies.

Another one which bothered me was the early 80s adaptation of Murder is Easy. They decided that the main character should be a computer guy. Oy....But anyway, why would the lady at the start of the film have to go to Scotland Yard to report the murder? In the thirties, when the novel was written, it would have been understandable. Maybe she didn't have a phone at home and she didn't want to use a public phone. But the adaptation was set in the early eighties. So she could have just phoned from home.

I agree that it's disconcerting when the movies/TV episodes are supposed to be SET in the 30s/40s but the characters have hairdos from the sixties or seventies or whenever the stories were filmed. I admit that it doesn't bother me when some of the characters from the Ellery Queen series are like that. (Have you seen that show?) Some of them were dressed in 40s outfits while others were not. Disconcerting, but Ellery was so hot that I just fix my eyes on him and ignore the outfits.  But yes, I see what you're saying and in other movies/TV shows, it does bother me. Seems like, in the past 20 years or so, the costume designers have been careful to get the costumes right.

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

Warner Bros. had to tone down its hard-hitting films for awhile when the Code came into effect. "The Case of the Black Cat" isn't exactly fluff, but it's very tame when you compare it to "Little Caesar" and "The Public Enemy". In 1937, Warner Bros. was back full force with its brutal "Marked Woman".

I do like the title "Thirteen at Dinner" better than "Lord Edgware Dies". "Thirteen at Dinner" is a title that I feel looks better on a theater marquee. I certainly do remember the "Ellery Queen" TV series. It's too bad it only had one season. I normally like period films and TV shows as a rule.

I think "What's the Matter with Helen?" (1971) is a superb example of how a movie can look and feel the era in which it takes place. Everything about it captures the aura of the 1930s perfectly. It's too bad other filmmakers (even recent ones) haven't been able to create such fine detail in their films.

Regarding the title Thirteen at Dinner: I also like it when the number 13 pops up in mystery titles. 

Ellery Queen is on DVD now, in case you are interested. Apparently it's on hulu.com, but I can't get into that site. Last time I tried, I got a message saying it's for residents of the USA only. I guess Canada isn't the 51st state, after all.  In this show, they were a bit sloppy with costumes and hairdos (some of the characters looked VERY seventies), but I like the way they incorporated radio plays into some of the episodes, along with the "golden age" style of newspaper reporting (the overexcited reporter, as seen in some films of the 1930s and 1940s).

Thanks for the tip on What's the Matter with Helen. I haven't heard of that one. There is also the 1971 TV movie They Call it Murder (starring Jim Hutton, who also starred in the Ellery Queen series). That one is set in the late sixties or early seventies, but somehow they managed to capture the feeling of isolation, etc. I was quite surprised when I saw it for the first time. It's based on a Doug Selby mystery (a detective-D.A. created by Erle Stanley Gardner). I would love to read all those Doug Selby mysteries, and I'd love to see all those books filmed. So far, I've only read three of them. Better than nothing, I guess. Personally, I think that the Doug Selby mysteries are better than the Perry Mason ones. The film is quite complex, with a detailed ending. It's on DVD.

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

Yes, I know "Ellery Queen" is available on DVD. It's listed on Amazon. You couldn't really blame the folks responsible for being a bit sloppy with costumes and hairstyles. 1970s TV shows were usually low-budget and were rushed into production. It seems they used whatever they had or could borrow to make the series look as authentically vintage as possible. It's not always easy to do many TV series due to budget constraints. Naturally, period settings are even much more difficult to shoot.

A 1975 TV-Movie that I think captured the essence of the 1930s was the eerie "The Dead Don't Die" with George Hamilton. The hairstyles, costumes and cars really had an authentic 1930s look to them. It scared me into turning the TV off at a commercial break late one night. But I had a change of heart and felt I had to turn the TV back on before the commercial break ended. I recently caught this movie again on YouTube.

Did you ever see any of the Columbo episodes? A year ago, I watched a bunch of the ones released in the seventies. Inverted murder mysteries...just my style. Those are just as suspenseful as whodunits. I love Peter Falk. I especially liked Leonard Nimoy as one of the killers.

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

Yes, I remember "Columbo" from the 1970s.

Some other mysteries/thrillers from the 1930s/1940s worth seeing:

The Ghost Camera (1933)

The Mystery of Mr. X (1934)

Death at Broadcasting House (1934)

Murder by Television (1935)

It couldn't have happened, but it did (1936)

Ladies in Retirement (1941)


There is a lot of discussion of mysteries/noir/thrillers on the film noir board, in case you are interested. 

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

I've seen "The Ghost Camera", "Murder By Television" and I have both the DVD and the play "Ladies in Retirement" (which is superb!)

Have you seen either the 1931 or 1941 versions of "The Ghost Train"? Both are on YouTube. Unfortunately, only the sound discs of the last two reels of the 1931 version survive. But if you watch the 1941 version first, you can understand what's going on in the reels with missing sound in the 1931 version.

Thanks for the info about the film noir board. Hope to chat with you there.

I've seen the 41 version and I've heard of the 31 version. I think that the 41 version is the one with the comedian, right? I'm trying to remember....I seem to recall that he really overdid the humor, and that it interfered with an otherwise excellent story. I would need to see the film again to refresh my memory.

I look forward to chatting with you on the noir board! 

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

Yes, the 1941 version is the one with the comedian. He is a bit too much to take at first. Upon repeated viewings, I learned to just bear with his comic relief and enjoy the story. I will search for you on the noir board.

I try to do the same thing with films which have excessive humor, but this one was just a bit too much.

One of the most popular threads on the noir board is the "what noir did you see this month". Lots of participants there.

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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇