Curtain at Eight

1933
1 Std. 8 Min.

IMDb-BEWERTUNG

IHRE BEWERTUNG

Paul Cavanagh in Curtain at Eight (1933)

Füge eine Handlung in deiner Sprache hinzuAn elderly detective sets out to find who murdered a stage actor.An elderly detective sets out to find who murdered a stage actor.An elderly detective sets out to find who murdered a stage actor.

Regie
- E. Mason Hopper
Drehbuch
- Edward T. Lowe Jr.
- Octavus Roy Cohen
Hauptbesetzung

Siehe Produktionsinformationen bei IMDbPro

IMDb-BEWERTUNG

5,5/10

234

IHRE BEWERTUNG

Regie
- E. Mason Hopper
Drehbuch
- Edward T. Lowe Jr.
- Octavus Roy Cohen
Hauptbesetzung

Siehe Produktionsinformationen bei IMDbPro

Fotos1

Topbesetzung21

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C. Aubrey Smith

Jim Hanvey - Detective

Dorothy Mackaill

Lola Cresmer

Paul Cavanagh

Wylie Thornton - Actor

Sam Hardy

Martin Gallagher - Captain of Detectives

Marion Shilling

Anice Cresmer

Russell Hopton

Terry Mooney - Reporter

Natalie Moorhead

Alma Jenkins Thornton
(as Natalie Moorehead)

Hale Hamilton

Major Manning

Ruthelma Stevens

Doris Manning

Arthur Hoyt

Watkins - Night Watchman

Jack Mulhall

Carey Weldon

Dot Farley

Ella - Party Guest

Matthew Betz

'Lovely' Holmes
(Nicht genannt)

Herman Bing

Sam - Producer
(Nicht genannt)

Walter Brennan

Silent Detective
(Nicht genannt)

William Humphrey

Mr. Alison - Actor in Play
(Nicht genannt)

Jane Keckley

Actress in Play
(Nicht genannt)

Cornelius Keefe

Morgan - Actor in Play
(Nicht genannt)

Benutzerrezensionen14

5,5234

Empfohlene Bewertungen

GManfred

Almost 'Curtains' for "Curtain At Eight"

"Curtain At Eight" is only 61 minutes long, and I can't figure out if that's an asset or a detriment. It should have been longer to allow more plot development and it suffers from an editing problem - some scenes seem to be out of sequence and continuity suffers as a result.

On the other hand, maybe it's a blessing it was wrapped up quickly, as the production in general and the acting in particular is too stagey. There were no exterior shots and I thought that Sam Hardy, as the Detective Captain, nearly sank the whole picture with his outrageous overacting and obnoxious demeanor. He detracted from every scene he was in. C. Aubrey Smith and the female actresses were quite good, and the women were attractive (always enjoy watching Dorothy Mackaill), given that this was 1933, and this was an early 30's production through and through.

The mystery was above average and accounted for my rating - after all, the play's the thing, right? It was a whodunnit right up until the final scene, and with lots of suspects to choose from.

Interesting and marginally entertaining.

6CinemaSerf

Curtain at Eight

When "Wylie Thornton" (Paul Cavanagh), an actor who likes the company of women - not necessarily his wife - is shot at his own birthday party, we have no shortage of suspects. Detectives "Halliday" (Sam Hardy) and his sidekick "Hanvey" (C. Aubrey Smith) are soon drafted in to fathom it all out... Much of this is just a standard whodunit, and as we discover just how unpleasant "Wylie" actually was, we might also want to join the line-up of potential killers, too. What makes this a bit more fun is the dynamic between the two detectives. Hardy, the senior of the two, frequently comes up with half baked solutions whilst Smith proves the far more astute and considered of the pair and largely lets his boss bask in the glory whilst he does all the work. Good to see Smith given a more substantial role - he plays it well, and there's also a fine contribution from Natalie Moorhead as the deceased man's somewhat clandestine widow "Alma". The writing is simple, but effective, the ending is quite quirky - almost vindicating the crime - and at just over an hour it sustains the suspense quite well...

5SimonJack

Backstage mystery has too many holes

Movies like this make me appreciate the technical categories of Academy Awards. In this case, especially film editing and camera work. Both come into question in "Curtain at Eight," along with directing. The cast is mostly OK in this early "B" level mystery, but no one particularly shines in his or her role. The bombastic Sam Hardy stands out some in his role as Martin Galllagher, chief of detectives. Dislikable as he is, his braggadocio helps viewers see the clear difference in the abilities of the two policemen. That probably was intended in the script. We are supposed to like C. Aubrey Smith as the more calm and collected detective, Jim Hanvey. Smith is OK, but there is nothing special in his or any of the other performances.

The plot of this film is interesting, and is what kept me watching. But a number of disconnects makes it difficult to follow at times. It jumps around between abrupt scene breaks and suffers from lack of cohesion. Again, that may be the editing. The ending is rather abrupt as well. And though it leaves us with a sense of justice having been achieved, it also reinforces doubt about the police work. And, the character of the police. The production quality is very poor, and even a digital remastering of this film couldn't improve it enough to make it a good movie to recommend.

One other reviewer noted the retort by the reporter, Terry Mooney (played by Russell Hopton), to a boastful comment by Gallagher. "Says Hitler!?" surely says a lot about the times. Hitler had only just risen to power in Germany the previous year. The press on him was obviously good enough that the folks in Hollywood already perceived him as a liar and untrustworthy. But then, we should remember that a number of entertainers, writers and other artists were among the early people to flee the Nazis, in the early 1930s.

5Bernie4444

Don't monkey around with women.

Wylie Thornton (Paul Cavanagh) does some big-time philandering. He has several women hooked including the chimpanzee. He puts out the standard story that he is going to leave his wife of whom he has never talked to in quite some time; all the time his wife is listening and snickering in the background.

It doesn't take us long to realize who's going to be shot. However, the plot is more complex than you would suspect. An inept policeman Marty Gallagher (Sam Hardy) suspects everybody and as usual, comes near to arresting everybody. Only Detective Jim Hanvey (C. Aubrey Smith) can glean the truth out of this complex situation. He must do so before reporter Terry Mooney (Russell Hopton) does some gleaning of his own.

It is a fun movie. However, they do a lot of fumbling and make up obscure connections between people and events. Oh yes, I think C. Aubrey Smith must have been born old.

4kevinolzak

"you'd cut my throat for a dime" "when did the price go up?"

1933's "Curtain at Eight" was a Poverty Row mystery from independent Majestic Pictures, routinely staged and acted by a mostly lethargic cast, chiefly remembered (if at all) for its remarkable chimpanzee, as adept at gunplay as the surprise culprit. Theatrical lothario Wylie Thornton (Paul Cavanagh) juggles multiple love affairs while supporting a blackmailing wife (Natalie Moorhead) who wholeheartedly approves of his philandering if it fills her coffers with ready cash. Dorothy Mackaill plays a conquered lover tossed aside, her sister (Marion Shilling) a gullible waif who chooses suicide rather than life without Wylie, his new leading lady and latest conquest (Ruthelma Stevens) being a wealthy heiress whose disapproving father (Hale Hamilton) suspects the two timer has never divorced his wife. When both Thorntons are shot, we get an odd couple of detectives, the abrasive dimwit (Sam Hardy) who arrests everyone who didn't do it, and the patient old timer (top billed C. Aubrey Smith) who at least fingers the right person; oddly enough, neither crime is truly solved by the investigators. The screenplay by veteran Edward T. Lowe has some sharp jabs but the first murder takes place at the half hour mark, after which things fall apart and the suspects are generally neglected. The sparring between the greedy couple makes for the one truly outstanding scene, he making excuses about not sleeping well to his various lovers over the phone while she's relaxing in bed, amused at playing her husband's 'secretary' and calling out his numerous deceptions ("you'd cut my throat for a dime" "when did the price go up?"). The female chimp is a real scene stealer, as smitten with the dead man as her human costars, easily getting in and out of her cage, occasionally visiting Wylie's dressing room to steal away his photograph. This marked the first screen appearance of author Octavus Roy Cohen's laconic detective Jim Hanvey, here played by British thespian C. Aubrey Smith, later interpreted by Guy Kibbee in 1937's "Jim Hanvey, Detective," a Republic production that failed to produce any further follow ups.

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The earliest documented telecasts of this film took place on the East Coast in New York City Thursday 26 August 1948 on WCBS (Channel 2) and on the West Coast in Los Angeles Thursday 23 November 1950 on KTLA (Channel 5).

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Alma Jenkins Thornton: A wife has some rights, particularly an undivorced wife.
Wylie Thornton - Actor: If Doris Manning smelled a rat, she'd back out like that
[he snaps his fingers]
Alma Jenkins Thornton: And we can't afford to lose the Manning millions, can we, Dear?
Wylie Thornton - Actor: Keep on, keep on, you'll throw a monkey wrench into the whole works.
Alma Jenkins Thornton: Oh, you'd find words to soothe the troubled waters. Your lips fairly drool honey when they want to. That's how you got me.
Wylie Thornton - Actor: I wish some of the same could get rid of you.
Alma Jenkins Thornton: [mockingly] Ah, what is life without you, my Sweet? Each hour away from you is a nightmare, torn with despair. Each day a Purgatory of waiting, waiting for night and the sweet caress of your tender lips. You cackling boudoir rooster!
Alma Jenkins Thornton: [she resumes mocking him] I was the only woman in your life. The glorious sunburst on the dark horizon of your lonely days. And the very night you married me, you had dates with two of your ex-sweeties!
Alma Jenkins Thornton: [still mocking him] Oh, but Darling, don't you understand, these other women, they mean nothing to me. They're just stepping stones on the pathway to our happiness. And I fell for it. I believed you, you bedroom Ananias. I loved you. I laugh myself sick when I think about it now. But I used to sit in my room and cry over you. Till I got next to him and me. You big Baboon! But you're going to pay for every bit of unhappiness you caused me and you're going to pay for it the only way it hurts you - through your pocketbook.
Wylie Thornton - Actor: Alright, alright. You're getting yours, aren't you?
Alma Jenkins Thornton: You've held out on my cut for the last four weeks. And unless you kick in, I'm going to move in and stay in. Now what about my dough, Big Boy, what about it?
Wylie Thornton - Actor: I had to pay...
Alma Jenkins Thornton: Oh, don't lie to me. You gambled it away. I know when, how and with whom. You've lost three salary cheques, one after another. And last night, you gave a certain well-known gentleman a cheque that'll still be bouncing when Gabriel toots his horn!
Wylie Thornton - Actor: Listen, Alma...
Alma Jenkins Thornton: I'll do the talking, you flannel-mouthed Romeo. Wylie Thornton, matinee idol, pride of every kitchen mechanic and points south. Why you worn out Adonis, pull any fast stuff on me and I'll lay you out among the lilies - and little Alma Thornton is the one that can do it!