Before Dawn

The dying Joe Valerie tells a psychiatrist (Warner Oland) that he has hidden a million dollars in gold from a robbery committed years before. He offers the location of the gold in exchange for the doctor ending his life.

The gold is in the house being guarded by two elderly women. One is Mrs. Marble (Jane Darwell). She reads of Valerie's death and intends to take the money and leave. But Joe's ghost appears to her and as a result, she falls down the stairs and dies.

The police aren't sure what happened. At the urging of the officer in charge of arresting fake clairvoyants (Stuart Erwin), they use Patricia, who is actually a real clairvoyant, to tell them what happened.

This was a lot of fun, with young Dorothy Wilson as the clairvoyant and Dudley Digges as her father. Stuart Erwin had a pleasant screen personality used to good advantage here, and Warner Oland, who would become one of the Charlie Chans, is quite different here.

For me the most fascinating thing about the film is that as of this writing, it's 81 years old. Everything in the world has changed, everyone in this film is long gone, and people are still watching the movie.

Warner oland (played charlie chan, so many times) is doctor cornelius, who claims to know things about the hidden money from a heist years ago, done by criminal joe valerie. "mattie" is the last living friend of valerie, who also may know where the money is hidden. Stuart erwin is officer dwight, trying to help a young clairvoyant, who may really be able to see things. Or is she just a fake? It won't be easy, since the house has no phone, no electric lights. Is there really buried treasure? And who will get it? It's pretty good, for an old heist film. A couple rough edits, but this was back in 1933. It's ninety years old already. The sound and picture are pretty good, considering its age. It's a bit of a quick, wrap up ending, but it is what it is. Directed by irving pichel. A shortie film, at just sixty minutes. From a story by edgar wallace. Not a bad way to spend an hour. Erwin and oland were pretty big, in the 1930s and 1940s.

In Before Dawn you will have the opportunity to see Stu Erwin in for him was an offbeat role. Merton Of The Movies typecast Erwin in roles as the eternal schnook.

Erwin is a police detective who is looking for stolen loot and the guy who stole it died and his ghost frightened housekeeper Jane Darwell. So Erwin takes the unusual step of inviting clairvoyant Dorothy Wilson on the case as a consultant.

Enough spooky goings on in this case although we never actually see any kind of spirit. Warner Oland is also in this film as psychiatrist from, where else, Vienna who also is in on the case to expose fake mediums. Wilson's father Dudley Digges is a shady character.

Before Dawn should satisfy mystery and horror fans.

Detective Stuart Erwin is unimpressed by the sign reading "Mlle. Mystera – Psychic Readings/Vocational Guidance." And when the psychic is unable to contact his deceased Aunt Minnie, he has her hauled in as a fake, along with her manager father.

Still, the young woman insists she's for real: "It's not a racket with me," she says. "I have a gift. I'm really clairvoyant. Sometimes I wish I weren't." –Dorothy Wilson is really quite good as that rare B movie character, the psychic who is neither a phony nor a nut.

Erwin and Wilson are appealing and even believable as they gradually earn each other's respect. The plot takes them both to a spooky old house that may contain hidden robber's loot, and whose elderly resident recently saw a ghost and dropped dead of fright—or was she murdered?

Warner Oland is excellent as a mysterious doctor who knows something about the treasure and whose sinister demeanor may or may not indicate his involvement in these dark doings.

An exciting climax includes a secret passage attached to a dark staircase leading down, down…. This one is lots of fun.

Detective Stu Erwin is arresting psychics and scoops up Dorothy Wilson and her father, Dudley Diggs. It takes him about ten minutes of screen time to realize she's no phony and enlist her aid investigating the murder of Jane Darwell.

It's a movie clearly influenced by Avery Hopwood's THE BAT, with an old dark house, a hidden million dollars in gold, someone wandering around the house terrorizing anyone who might take the money. There's a lot going on for a a 60-minute movie, and Irving Pichel directs efficiently, with a cast that includes Warner Oland ad Oscar Apfel in the largest role I've ever seen him in. Erwin, who usually annoys me with his passive persona in comedies, is okay; Miss Wilson doesn't have much to do. Given the short length, this movie at a good clip.