La maison aux mille bougies

Irving Pichel is so suave that he murders conscience-stricken Mischa Auer without seeming to notice it. But Auer doesn't have the secret coded message. That winds up in the hands of diplomat Philip Holmes. He is under orders to carry it to the conference of Geneva. However spy and dancer Rosita Morena wants it for Pichel. Also, Holmes' girl friend, Mae Clarke, can't be shaken off Holmes's trail.

At least, I think that's what's going on. There are two reels inexpertly cut out of this movie. Supposedly it was done to make it fit into television schedules. Better copies do not seem to exist. The result is a series of poorly motivated chases, suave Pichel kills someone, and then it's another chase. I suspect that a complete copy might make sense and even be enjoyable. For the moment, however, avoid any copy of 55 minutes or less.

I bought this title from Hollywoodsattic.com recently, for a not-unreasonable price. I am a big fan of the original book by Meredith Nicholson, and I was very disappointed to find that this film had NOTHING to do with the original storyline. The only thing taken from the book was the title. But the opening credits state "from the novel by Meredith Nicholson". There was a silent version made in 1915, and judging from the characters' names, it does follow the original story. This 1936 version is a rather cheesy early WWII spy drama. I am no film critic, but wow, the bad acting really jumped off the screen and grabbed me by the throat on this one!