Tue 26 Oct 2010
Archived Movie Review: MIDNIGHT MYSTERY (1930).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[3] Comments
MIDNIGHT MYSTERY. 1930. Betty Compson, Lowell Sherman, Raymond Hatton, Hugh Trevor, June Clyde. Director: George B. Seitz.
It was a dark and stormy night … on a rock-bound island off the coast of Cuba. [FOOTNOTE] A mansion, full of guests, laughter and merriment, and suddenly … a shot rings out.
A rush to the wall at the edge of the cliff … and a body is seen being washed out to sea. A confession … despair … hatred … and (would you believe?) murder.
The fiancee of the accused man, with whom she has been quarreling, is also a writer of mystery novels (“dime novels,” he sneers), and in this movie she proves her worth as a detective. While we (the viewer) know who the killer is, it is nice, on occasion, one such as this, to be able to follow the deductions along with the sleuth of the story.
And a stagey sort of story it is (not surprisingly, being adapted directly from a play, one called Hawk Island), with the acting ranging from barely adequate to abysmal. By today’s standards, I hasten to add.
The only player I recognized was Raymond Hatton, but after seeing him as a cowboy sidekick in countless other movies of a type other than this, I’m not sure I would have recognized him, what with suit jacket, vest and tie, if his name hadn’t appeared early on in the credits.
[FOOTNOTE] There is some confusion about this, as this week’s TV Guide says it was off the coast of Maine, which seems more likely, but I checked the beginning of the movie again, and no, it says Cuba, right there in the opening scene.
[UPDATE] 10-26-10. I should still have the video tape I made of this movie, and I certainly hope so, since I’ve not been able to find one on DVD. Presumably I taped it from either TCM or American Movie Classics, so there is no doubt that it does still exist somewhere.
Betty Compson, pictured above, made a lot of silent films, and I mean a lot, but she survived the switch to talkies and was still making movies through the late 1940s, albeit of the “B” variety, a la Hard Boiled Mahoney (1947), which I watched a month or so ago during an all-day Bowery Boys marathon.
October 27th, 2010 at 10:53 am
I wonder how I missed this on TCM (or wherever)?
Lowell Sherman co-starred with Constance Bennett in “What Price Hollywood?” that was the inspiration for “A Star is Born.” His list of acting credits goes back to 1920 and I saw him most recently at one of the film conventions in “Mammy,” with Al Jolson, a politically incorrect film (as they say) but a wonderfully detailed look at the minstrel show era, with Jolson in his prime. He also has a list of credits as a director, most notably for “Morning Glory” that brought Katherine Hepburn her first Oscar. He died in 1934.
As for Compson, she was a lovely and talented actress whose credits range from “The Miracle Man” (1919) to “Here Comes Trouble” (1948).
Could you lend me your tape of the film?
October 27th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
After seeing Betty Compson’s long list of credits on IMDB (and her photo), I’ve already decided to try tracking down some of the films she was in.
But finding my copy of MIDNIGHT MYSTERY might be even harder. I know where tapes I made 17 years ago should be, but you’ve seen my basement. Wish me luck!
October 28th, 2010 at 1:36 am
Wow, this is an oldie indeed!