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Charles Ruggles, Mary Carlisle, and Una Merkel star in this crime thriller on a train, made just as the Hays Production was starting to be enforced. Merkel and Carlisle are telephone operators, Ruth and Georgia, but when circumstances change, they end up on a train, in a private car, with the absent minded, stuttering Ruggles as Godfrey Scott. He "deflects" crimes before they occur....(?) And of course, a 35 year old Sterling Holloway (voice of Winnie the Pooh) as an office boy. Keep a quick eye out for Walter Brennan, the railroad switch- man, in a real brief appearance. They pack a lot of action into the 63 minute shortie from MGM. Good photography with the train "chase scenes", in spite of all the back mattes and sped up film scenes used. There is a confusing scene near the beginning, before they all get on the train, but it becomes quite an entertaining film. Appears to have been remade in 1942 as Grand Central Murder (?) also by MGM.

This is a fast-paced and highly enjoyable comedy-thriller from the MGM B-movie mill. The plot concerns a pretty switchboard operator who discovers that she is the long-lost daughter of a wealthy industrialist. On a cross-country train trip to visit him, a mysterious villain threatens her and her entourage with murder through messages and the occasional disembodied voice.

The first two-thirds of the movie are played mainly for laughs, with sharp, witty dialog and goofy situations. This leads to a frantic no-holds-barred climax as a runaway railway car hurtles down a mountain line, narrowly missing speeding trains coming its way.

Charlie Ruggles creates another wonderfully eccentric character, a "deflector" -- something like a detective, but instead of solving crimes he uses his savvy to prevent them from occurring. He mangles many an old aphorism, and has some terrific exchanges with the equally incisive Una Merkel. He even gets to interact with some circus animals in amusing fashion. Pre-code buffs will enjoy some of the subtly racy asides (listen for Ruggles' full name, for instance), but modern viewers may be dismayed by the racially insensitive material to which "Snowflake" is subjected as the frightened porter (he has a larger role than usual, and certainly plays the demeaning stereotype with aplomb).

Definitely worth an hour of any buff's time, and a "keeper" for railway aficionados.

In his career during the 30s Charlie Ruggles was a master of silly and non-sequitar comedy. No one could mix a metaphor quite like Ruggles as he proves in Murder In A Private Car.

The film concerns two switchboard operators and best friends Una Merkel and Mary Carlisle. Just one day private detective Porter Hall contacts Carlisle and tells her she is the missing heiress to a fortune and millionaire Berton Churchill's daughter. As a toddler Carlisle was kidnapped and placed in an orphanage by nefarious forces unknown.

Those same nefarious forces are determined to see she doesn't get to be reunited with dad. Let's say there's a lot of money at stake.

So begins an eventful trip with a few deaths, an escaped gorilla, and romance developing between another private detective Ruggles and Merkel. Ruggles is kind of shoehorned into the plot. He's not a detective, Ruggles calls himself a deflector one who prevents crime rather than solve it. That was in fact the premise of the TV series Checkmate back in the day.

Even with 'murder' in the title, Murder In The Private Car is still an amusing little item. Listen carefully to Ruggles, you may have to watch this film one or two times to catch all the bon mots he utters.

They and he are worth catching.

One thing you can say for sure, it certainly is not a rip-off of "The Thin Man" or any other big budget murder mystery of its time.

The scene opens on two switchboard operators busy at work at an investment firm - Ruth Raymond and Georgia Latham (Mary Carlisle and Una Merkel). One day an investigator informs Ruth that she is the long lost daughter of a wealthy man. She is to be whisked away via a private car to New York to meet her father. She asks her friend and coworker, Georgia, to come along too, and thus the adventure begins.

Onboard the train the bodies start piling up, there is a mysterious invisible voice telling Ruth she has only hours to live, and there are doubts raised as to whether or not she is the long lost daughter of the wealthy man in the first place. Along for the ride is the long-time boyfriend of Ruth, as well as a goofy fellow, Godfrey Scott (Charles Ruggles), who has taken a shine to Georgia before all of this mystery began and appointed himself investigator of the case. There are escaped primates in assorted sizes and also a plot device that reminds me of the "Wild Wild West" TV show.

Ruggles' act can get tiresome depending on how big a dose is injected into a particular movie, but there is so much going on here that I really didn't think him more of a hindrance than a help, plus the building relationship between himself and Merkel's character is adorable. I'd recommend it if you're in the mood for a rather offbeat film that is certainly very atypical output for MGM of the period.

"Murder in the Private Car" is from 1934, right at the beginning of the production code.

A pretty switchboard operator, Ruth (Mary Carlisle) is told by detectives that she is the long-lost daughter of a wealthy man. Her coworker (Una Merkel) accompanies her in a private train car ordered for her to take her to her father. But somebody -- a disembodied voice, in fact - wants her dead -- and tells her she has only hours to live.

A man on the train, Godfrey Scott (Charles Ruggles) is on the train. He is a "deflector," one who stops crimes before they start. Ruth's long- time boyfriend is also on the train.

Soon people start being murdered, and it's obvious Ruth is in great danger.

This is an odd movie in that the story - for me, anyway, wasn't very clear. There is a circus train wreck thrown in, giving Ruggles the opportunity to interact with several animals.

The highlight of the film is a train chase, and the process shots were very well done - normally you can tell the background is a movie screen, but here it wasn't always apparent, and the chase was very exciting.

I was confused because it looks in the beginning of the film as if the detectives faked the evidence in order to say that Ruth was the long- lost daughter, but I don't think it was followed up. I guess whether she was or not, she thought she was and the father believed it.

The other thing that threw me was the disembodied voice which I thought I recognized - I won't say who I thought it was, but I spent some time thinking the murderer was someone who wasn't. In fact I'm not sure if the murderer was revealed. I was probably distracted. It reminded me of an old episode of Inspector Morse that was so confusing, I called my friend and asked whodunit. He returned my call and said, "I not only don't know whodunit, I don't know who was killed."

Georgia (Merkel) and Godfrey have a cute relationship that grows during the film.

Definitely worth seeing - Walter Brennan is one of the men at the train switch, obviously a very early role. Sterling Holloway, so familiar to Baby Boomers from TV and the voice of Winnie the Pooh, is also in the film.

MGM supposedly remade this film about ten years later - but to be honest, the description of "Grand Central Murder" doesn't sound the same, except for the train sequence. This movie is also reminiscent of a film with Lana Turner minus the train - so who knows.

I thought this B movie ended before certain things were cleared up.

According to IMDb, Mary Carlisle is still alive at 101. Wow.

Seldom will the words "what were they thinking?!" come to mind while enjoying a film as often as while watching this pseudo-mystery from the early days of sound at MGM - though not as early as the haphazard writing would suggest.

Enjoy it you will, however, as the odds and ends the entertainment are assembled from are largely quality remainders, borrowed from all kinds of other films than the mystery the title leads one to expect.

Who knows what the original mystery play ("The Rear Car") the film is based on was really like? It lacked sufficient merit to make it to Broadway (neither did "Everybody Comes To Rick's," but that didn't seem to hurt CASABLANCA much), but the stagy "thriller" aspects of the center part of the film suggest that the tossed in ingredients didn't hurt it any.

Chief among the "tossed in" ingredients is Charlie Ruggles' Godfrey Scott, a supposed "detective" occupied far more with the kind of bumbling burlesque comedy Ruggles had been perfecting since his movie debut back in 1914 (and would continue to mine right up until his death in 1970). By the 1930's Ruggles was a well recognized Hollywood commodity in such hits as Brandon Thomas' CHARLEY'S AUNT, THE SMILING LIEUTENANT, LOVE ME TONIGHT and ALICE IN WONDERLAND. MURDER IN THE PRIVATE CAR must have seemed a decidedly second tier assignment to the comedian, but he gave it his all . . . though the biggest laugh in the script may come in the credits - "Edgar Allan Woolf," one of the co-writers was clearly named after Edgar Allan POE, the founder of the modern mystery format with his "C. Auguste Dupin stories in the 1840's! So much for legitimate mystery credentials in this film.

The silly plot (a lost heiress found and at risk) had already been the subject of too many musicals and farces to be taken entirely seriously, and the film makers don't spend to much time seriously laying out the clues and red herrings even though the golden age of the murder mystery was near its peak. Instead, they pull out the stops with cinema-friendly special effects like runaway trains and (never explained) secret panels.

It starts and remains a supremely silly hodge podge, but fun nonetheless for all but the serious mystery fan the title seems to want to attract. Watch for Ruggles and Una Merkle, and don't worry so much about the title murder(s) and a good time is to be had.

This is the sort of B thriller that made movie-going fun back in the thirties. Mary Carlisle is a hard-working telephone operator at a stock brokerage who suddenly discovers that she's the long-lost daughter of a railroad tycoon. With best pal Una Merkel in tow, she's tricked into boarding a private railway car en route to a reunion with her father. But neither the car nor her fellow passengers are what they appear to be.

Some of it is sorta' silly. There's a circus train wreck thrown in for padding. And Charlie Ruggles' as a "deflective" detective has a few too many goofy bromides. But the climactic chase sequence, as a runaway car roars down miles of twisting mountain track, is superbly directed, shot and edited. And that was back in the days before CGI when you had to film the real thing.

While "Murder in the Private Car" isn't in the same league as "The Narrow Margin" (the gold standard among railroad mysteries,) it's well worth a look. Especially for train buffs. And in just a bit over an hour, it moves along like...well...like a speeding train.

Wonderful train sequence at end

"This train has got the disappearing railroad blues"

Ruth Raymond (Mary Carlisle) is a switchboard operator in an office building. Nosy investigator Alden Murray shows up and reveals that she is actually Ruth Carson. She was kidnapped as a child by her uncle and is the heir to a railroad fortune. She suddenly becomes one of the richest girls in the world and a target of more kidnappers. Godfrey D. Scott (Charles Ruggles) is a crime deflector. He deflects crimes before they happen.

Crime deflector is an interesting premise. It could be funny or thrilling or both. This seems to be trying for both. It's such an odd premise that the movie should really lead with it. It should open the movie with Scott deflecting various crimes. They could have made a series out of this. I could do without Titus, but that's the standard comedic black character of the day. There is an uniquely funny concept here if it could have better execution. Instead, they are doing the gorilla suit comedy bit. As for the big train caper, Scott should be more instrumental in finding and solving the issue. He does get in front for the final jump. He should do that for the whole thing.

Silly mystery that almost compensates with a white-knuckle finale. Ruggles plays an addled "deflector" who can't seem to get his sayings right—"The early worm gets the bird"! All in all, he's an imaginative twist on the usual sleuth in that he bumbles his way before getting moments of brilliance. Sort of like a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Clouseau. Too bad his shtick is not funnier. At the same time, the incoherent mystery part is submerged beneath Ruggles and two loud blondes Merkel and Carlisle who keep the decibel level peaking. They're cute, of course, and understandably get most of the screen time. Overall, I'm not sure what MGM was reaching for, but the parts don't blend that well. Still, the bang-up finale is worth the price, with scares galore and no models for the runaway trains. I'm not sure how they did it with real locomotives and passenger cars, but it comes as a stunning surprise after 50-or-so minutes of blah. Anyway, much of the cast—Ruggles, Merkel--thankfully went on to better material. Meanwhile, no more trains for me, I'll be taking air travel from now on, for sure.

This jumbled oddity involves a goofy "crime deflector" protecting a long-lost heiress.

There are a lot of issues. The deflector idea is intriguing but it's not unclear how Mr. Scott figures out the things he does while very clear that most of the time he's an idiot who fails in his appointed role. It's also hard to believe his romance with the much younger Georgia.

The character of Ruth also makes zero sense, when she learns something awful about the man who raised her it doesn't phase her, and early dangerous encounters flow off her like water on a duck.

But while the filming borders on inept, the movie is enjoyably humorous, the main characters seem to be having some fun, and there is a surprisingly suspenseful runaway trail sequence that could have appeared in a much better movie.

If you like old comedy-mysteries, this isn't the best, but it's not the worst.

An amateur crime ‘deflector' finds his skills put to the test aboard a transcontinental train when there's MURDER IN THE PRIVATE CAR.

All of the much-loved elements of the Old Dark House spook films can be found in this regrettably obscure little thriller -- damsels in distress, mysterious legacies, strange disappearances, hairy clutching hands, sudden death, terrible menace (and, for a few delicious moments, a rampaging gorilla)-- except here it all takes place in the fancy carriage car of a swiftly moving train. The plot moves just as quickly, catapulting the viewer along, with the climax especially fast & furious.

The delightfully quixotic humor of comic actor Charles Ruggles is highlighted as his offbeat character relentlessly pursues the solution of the mystery. His bemused encounter with the denizens of a smashed circus train--camel, kangaroo and MGM's Leo the Lion--is especially funny. The teaming of Ruggles with pert & perky Una Merkel is inspired. Her sarcastic wisecracks, uttered in that wonderful Southern drawl, are the perfect counterpoint to Ruggles' wry utterances.

The rest of the cast offers good support: Mary Carlisle as a terribly endangered rich girl; Russell Hardie as her stalwart boyfriend; Berton Churchill as a slightly stuffy millionaire who's about to face enormous peril; Porter Hall as a protective lawyer; and Fred ‘Snowflake' Toones as a terrified train porter.

Movie mavens will recognize Sterling Holloway as a gossipy office boy and Walter Brennan as a train yard switchman, both uncredited.

Switchboard operator Mary Carlisle receives the surprising information that she is the long lost heir to a railroad empire. She and best friend Una Merkel set off by train for California to meet her millionaire father, accompanied by investigator and bodyguard Porter Hall. Also tagging along is Charlie Ruggles, another detective of sorts who recently showed up in the switchboard room and took a liking to Merkel.

On the train west, Carlisle's boyfriend Russell Hardie pops up as a stowaway, a mysterious voice threatens murder, an escaped circus gorilla causes mayhem... and that's all before the last train car is cut loose and starts rolling backwards down a mountain.

The plot is full of unanswered questions but it's all played mainly for laughs and it goes by fast enough that you don't really have time to wonder what exactly is going on. The stars are fine, especially Ruggles and Merkel as the rather giggly leading couple who just find each other irresistible.

A fun picture but exceedingly silly, especially for anyone expecting a suspenseful murder mystery.

I agree with the last reviewer, this is one goofy film, and produced by MGM's B unit on a slim budget. It's also has to be one of the best comedy slash mysteries of the 30s, well directed by veteran Harry Beaumont, who began a long career in silent films. Beaumont got what he wanted from this crew and it shows, lead by hilarious Charlie Ruggles, the master of one-liners. It's a lost heiress story, and just right for Depression era audiences, as over-worked and presumably underpaid switchboard operator Mary Carlisle is the long missing daughter of a multi-millionaire. The luck we all dream about, right? Her co-worker and best friend is none other than kooky Una Merkel, and you have to admit, who else better to become her boyfriend than Ruggles. What a couple they make.

The first half of the story is rather predictable as Carlisle is "discovered" via fingerprints, and finally meeting her businessman father, played by wise, old Burtin Chruchill, who was cast in so many of these type of roles. Then the fun really begins. Beaumont throws everything into this mad adventure as the gang becomes stranded in a passenger car, which is cleverly cut loose from the rest of a speeding train bound for New York City. Comes a creepy, mysterious voice, claiming the car is loaded with explosives and its just a matter of time before the end! This you have to see as the car winds the tracks, burning through a train station, all the while another train attempts to catch up to them. Extremely well produced for a low budget film, even with stock footage, turning out to be one heck of a roller coaster ride. NO kidding. And before all the madness, there's a stop-over where a gorilla gets loose from a circus and hops on board? The gorilla is obviously not real, but it's a funny gag sequence thrown in for kicks, remininiscent of the comedy schtick of the 20s and 30s. Why not?

Filmed partly at the train station in the small northern California town of Dunsmuir, close to the Oregon border. Why this particular spot was chosen (so far from Hollywood) remains a mystery, but its campy fun nevertheless. The on location scouts must have had an unlimited budget. Jittery hero Charlie Ruggles and Una Merkel are the whole show, premier scene stealers, even from the gorilla. By the way, the supporting cast is excellent, all the familiar character actors of the time, including stone face Porter Hall.

Thanks to TCM for re-running this little gem, and it's out on dvd in a neat box with some additional features and cartoons thrown in for good measure.

We all miss Charlie Ruggles, a real well meaning stooge if there ever was one.

The years haven't been kind to this sort of material, a fragile murder mystery dependent on flat one-liners from leading man CHARLES RUGGLES and a script that ends with a Keystone Cops sort of train chase that only manages to liven up the proceedings for the final fifteen minutes.

The runaway car sequence is full of process shots that only add to the tangled mess of a plot involving a bit of murder and mayhem. UNA MERKEL gives her standard flighty interpretation of a dull role, as does MARY CARLISLE. The broadest comedy relief comes from the train porter, played by a black man billed as "Snowflake." Today's viewers would find his interpretation of a comically frightened coward as offensive as can be.

Getting to that train chase ending is almost unbearable. Charles Ruggles has a thankless role and is unable to deliver a single believable line. His detective character is not only annoying but obnoxious--not the actor's fault but the poor script gives him no opportunity to be anything but foolish and boorish in behavior.

Only those who love to wallow in '30s-style comedies, whether good, bad or indifferent, will be able to tolerate this one.

My advice is to let it pass. Mercifully, it's a short feature film.

Murder in the Private Car (1934)

** (out of 4)

MGM murder/mystery has Una Merkel playing a woman who is identified as a baby who was kidnapped fourteen years earlier. Now, as an adult, her father has paid for her to come home to him so she gets on a train where a stranger tells her she only has eight hours to live. Charles Ruggles plays a small-time detective who tries to keep the girl alive long enough to meet her father. Only God is certain on how many of these mysteries I've seen over the years and they are all mostly average with a few that manage to be quite good movies. This one here thankfully just runs 63-minutes but it's pretty lifeless through each of those minutes. The biggest problem is that the film goes for far too many laughs, which wouldn't be a problem if they were actually funny. Since they are all unfunny it really drags the film down and makes all the characters quite annoying. Ruggles just doesn't work as the leading man as his humor is very annoying and he really can't keep the film moving. Merkel is good in her role, although it's certainly not written too well. And yes, there's a gorilla who shows up to scare everyone. I'm still trying to figure out why all of these mysteries from the silent era to the 1940s featured a gorilla.