The Bedroom Window

Ruth (May McAvoy)'s father is shot dead by an unknown assailant, and suspect number one is the boyfriend he has mysteriously barred from seeing her, Robert (Ricardo Cortez). But someone's not convinced by the perfunctory police investigation. Enter Matilda Jones (Ethel Wales), a wonderfully feisty older woman who, under the name Rufus Romes, is a best-selling crime novelist. Now she turns her attentions towards the real-life crime at hand, and her clever amateur sleuthing uncovers a raft of secrets.

The film starts a little slowly, but from the minute the wonderful Ethel Wales appears, it's a delight. The central mystery is cleverly plotted and well directed by William DeMille (older brother of Cecil). While the supporting cast is fine, this is Wales' movie through and through. There are shades of Jessica Fletcher and both Agatha Christie and Miss Marple in her witty performance. If you're a fan of silents or whodunnits - or both - this will come as a treat.

The 1987 suspense film 'The Bedroom Window' has one of the most ingenious premises I've ever seen. We know the killer's identity all along, but we can't guess what will happen next. This 1924 movie (otherwise totally unrelated) has the same title, but this 'Bedroom Window' is meant to be a whodunnit rather than a suspense film. Unfortunately, it fails on all counts. 'The Bedroom Window' (1924 version) is directed by William C. de Mille (lower case 'de'), who conclusively proves here that he's far less talented than his brother Cecil B. (upper case 'De') DeMille.

Unappealing actress Ethel Wales plays Matilda Jones, who writes best-selling mystery novels under the name Rufus Rome. We know she writes best-sellers, because at regular intervals she receives cheques for $5,000. (I doubt that many authors in 1924 made this much.) When her neighbour James Martin is killed by a bullet fired through his bedroom window, Matilda decides to solve the case herself. (The police have the day off, apparently.) She dons a weird chequerwork costume which is apparently meant to be the female equivalent of Sherlock's deerstalker, then she promptly breaks into the crime scene. To recreate the fatal bullet's path, she climbs in through the bedroom window. When anybody challenges her sleuth credentials, she haughtily announces 'I'm Rufus Rome!' So that's all right, then.

Handsome Ricardo Cortez plays Bob Delano, a local schlub who gets arrested for the murder. We see Bob cooling his heels in a nice roomy gaol that looks like a pleasant place to spend the weekend. Bob's girlfriend is the murdered man's daughter Ruth, played by May McAvoy: a very pretty blonde with no discernible acting talent. Some unfortunate 'comic' relief is supplied by Mattie Peters as a stereotypical black maidservant.

This movie reminds me of a very bad episode of 'Murder, She Wrote'. There's an attempt at a genuine mystery here, with clues for the audience to discover ... but there are huge gaps in the script's logic, and the identity of the murderer is painfully obvious ... largely due to the bad acting of all concerned. This movie would have been better if none of the cast had been tipped off in advance to the murderer's identity. I'll rate this 'Bedroom Window' only 1 point out of 10. Skip this clinker and rent the splendid 1987 movie with the same title.

THE BEDROOM WINDOW (1924) was a very fun Paramount mystery from William de Mille. Ricardo Cortez is irate that May McAvoy's father has forbid him to see her again. He storms over to her house and demands to see the father. Unfortunately, the father has just been murdered, and Cortez picks up the murder weapon, a gun. There is no other exit from the room, except for an open window. There is a sheer drop from the window, and it is several stories high, so there is no way that the murderer could have escaped that way. The police come and immediately haul Cortez into jail.

Luckily, McAvoy's aunt (in-law) Ethel Wales is a mystery writer, who's pen name is "Rufus Rome". She has writer's block, and solving a real mystery is just what she needs. She has to untangle two love triangles, embezzled money, and even meets an attractive older man who is a suspect and a mystery fan. This mystery film is really well done, because there are several times that the audience will think that they have it figured out, and there is no squeaky-clean character that is revealed as the murderer at the end. Ethel Wales is a hoot as the amateur detective.

Ignore the late F Gwynplaine MacIntyre's review on the IMDb for this film. He obviously didn't see the movie and tried to judge it from contemporary reviews, because he gets several plot points wrong in his review.