jharding44

Murder in the Blue Room was a personal favorite of it's star, Anne Gwynne. Anne told me herself that she thought the picture 'was snappy' and 'really moved along'. I couldn't agree more! Yes, kind of odd that a Universal Pictures mystery-thriller would be laced with Boogie Woogie tunes, but, surprisingly, the numbers tie in well with the plot and are not overdrawn. Probably the best tune is the novelty number "Boogie Woogie Boogie Man", sung by the girl group to captive butler Ian Wolfe! Anne's song, "One Starry Night," dubbed by vocalist Martha Tilton, is also a very good tune. Without giving away the plot, there is an interesting twist, all wrapped up in a seaside ghost-mansion setting. Very atmospheric scenes include the interrupted party scene wherein the ghost makes an appearance at the piano, the appearance of ghoulish-costumed Larry Dearden at the costume party, and the climactic gun play in the caves underneath the mansion. Made by any other studio with other actors,this film would not have been half as good, and unfortunately the movie is rarely seen today. A great example of classic '40's Universal.

Universal's Inner Sanctum mystery series gets a lift with not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE horror queens from this genre: Evelyn Ankers, Anne Gwynne, Lois Collier, newcomer Kay (Jackie Lou)Harding, and borrowed from Val Lewton's RKO unit, Elizabeth Russell. Ankers, Gwynne and Collier all privately joked about the script which had them all competing for Chaney's affections, when in 'real life' Chaney was not any of the girls' favorite leading man; Ankers and Gwynne, being best friends, would constantly break up laughing during filming because the script had Ankers being so mean to Gwynne. The end result of filming shows none of the comedic goings-on and the mystery-chiller is a high camp surprise that only Universal could produce. Reginald LeBorg directed and according to Gwynne was a good sport dealing with the 'break-ups' between her and Ankers during filming. Flavorful music, very familiar to Universal horror fans, and spooky autumn-like surroundings on a dark college campus add to the suspense. Definitely the BEST of the Inner Sanctum series from Universal.