1933 / 64 minutes
A strangler is ushering stockbrokers out of this vale of
tears. In this Depression-era movie, the hard-boiled detective tells the cynical reporter that
only about half the population has a grudge against stockbrokers. But suspicion
falls on a philanthropist, mainly because eyewitnesses place him at the scene
of the murders. The problem is that the suspect can neither hear nor speak. Since the person of interest is taking an
interest in the reporter’s girl friend, the reporter is certain where there’s
smoke, there’s fire.
In this production by low-rent studio Monogram Pictures,
the sets are huge. Cavernous are the offices of the newspaper, the courtroom,
and the philanthropist’s creepy old mansion. The script is better than average,
with more wit than we expect and antique Americanisms such as ‘You’re a pal,”
“Make it snappy,” and “a good swift kick.” Lionel Atwill plays the
philanthropist convincingly but Jack Burton as the reporter delivers his lines
too fast. Instead of being one-dimensional characters, they have one and half
dimensions. Certainly, the story has its
fair share of silliness but at barely more than a hour this is passable
entertainment.
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