La casa embrujada

Jackie Moran is the office boy at the small-town newspaper. He's ambitious to be a reporter, and the ongoing trial of Christian Rub, the simple-minded handyman accused of the murder of his employer, has him incensed. His employer, George Cleveland, tells him to mind his own work, but Jackie talks Cleveland's niece into helping him. Despite setbacks, they persevere, leading them to the home of the murdered woman.

I's directed by Robert MacGowan, best remembered as the director of the OUR GANG series throughout the silent era. It's a cheap production from Monogram, anxious to promote their own adolescent stars, but without the budgeting power that the majors could offer. The result is more cute than expert, even though the mild good humor keeps things flowing at a reasonable rate.

This is a mystery for teenagers so Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys fans may like this one. The main sleuth is an office boy named Jimmie at the down-at-heel Brownsville Bugle. It's a small town newspaper where the editor's chair is so in need of repair and Jimmie's press car keeps breaking down on all of it's journeys. Jimmie likes to take his hand at writing his wannabe writing columns for the newspaper when the editor Albert Henshaw is away.

Jimmie is really upset when a nice old man named Olaf is sure to be convicted of the murder of Mrs Blake in the town. He tells all about this to a newly-arrived girl named Millie who has come to stay with her uncle Albert Henshaw the editor. She encourages Jimmie to pursue his suspicions and together their sleuthing in the old broken-down press car. But their enthusiasm gets the better of them and they just get called mischief makers when they wrongfully suspect one of the town's citizens.

Jimmie loses his job at the Brownsville Bugle and thinks about moving away to pursue his journalistic dreams elsewhere. But then more clues about Mrs Blake's murder emerge and he is persuaded to stay. He and Millie go on a sleuthing adventure that has them in a spooky house during a thunderstorm. They have to sort through dusty box files and decipher an enigmatic poem to gather their evidence.

Some viewers may find the youthful enthusiasm of the young heroes a bit much to take at intervals. But this teen mystery has plenty of pace and a pleasant small town setting where "human nature is pretty hard to figure" sometimes.

Don't let the title of this scarce movie fool you. It's not a haunted house movie & it's not an "old dark house" type of movie. It's a simple murder mystery movie with teenage leads. They do spend about 5 of the movie's 70 minutes inside an old spooky house, but that's hardly enough to warrant naming this movie "Haunted House"! Not a bad movie, although a bit redundant. The acting is OK, there's a neat old hot rod, but it's neither juvenile enough to please that movie crowd, nor scary, nor mysterious enough to please those movie crowds. I rate it 5/10 (& that's being a bit generous).

Ok, I'm 75 and I like old movies. This is dead on the genre of black and white films made from about 1930 through somewhere around 1948 that were comedic but involved a murder mystery. The murderer stays in the shadows scattering clues around and the stars of the show slowly and painfully track him/her/them down. Naturally the authorities are in the way hampering the investigation and the stars are put in improbable danger which cannot come to pass because it would ruin the film.

Normally it takes two stars, male and female, who needle one another endlessly but must have one another to make the bust. In fact, as the film moves forward, they come to rely on each other more and more ending up hopelessly in love. They realize they love one another but can't admit it until the end of the movie, but sometimes never depending on the writers.

The Nancy Drew mysteries fit the mold, except for the getting together at the end. Nonetheless, the audience knows Nancy has picked her man and his chances of escape are nil; thus, they will get together, we trust, even though the movie ends without a romantic commitment.

Haunted House 1940 falls directly into this category of film, and I really like this one. It takes place in a small town and the chemistry between the two leads, Jones and Moran, is perfect. The title is off, no haunted house, but there is a murder and a lot of suspicious activity, and really nutty ideas from Jones about how to solve the crime. Naturally, Moran will do anything she requests almost without resistance. The result is constant trouble of a laughable nature. You will not bend over laughing, but there are a ton of laughs and humorous moments and funny situations all throughout the movie. This is a great feel good movie in every way. Nothing heavy, which I really like because I don't watch movies for life lessons or reminders about how hard life is.

Highly recommended. AD2.

A fun film produced to cash in on the popularity of mysteries that swept the late '30's / early '40's. Very well done for an obvious "low budget" b-film. "Want-to-be" reporter and editor's niece do their best to prove innocence of accused murderer. Much circumstantial evidence leads them down several wrong paths, causing frustration and chastizing from elders. Perserverance pays off as they finally convince the law of friend's innocence, surprising everyone with the guilt of the real culprit. Definitely worth viewing.