The House of Secrets

Based on one of the stories by Sydney Horler, this one takes a while to get going. Twelve minutes in, and we finally figure out what's going on.... there's something shady going on at this estate, and the rightful owner is run off "his own property", according to him, Barry Wilding (Leslie Fenton). He bumps into Julie (Muriel Evans), who warns Barry against confronting the squatters at the estate. All so mysterious. The only name I recognize in here is Sidney Blackmer, who had appeared in so many films. so just WHAT is going on at that estate? the rightful owner is SO patient.... letting people live there, and do whatever the heck they are doing! meh. skip this one. who cares. showing on moonlight movies channel. yawn....

An American, who has inherited a stately British house, travels to the UK to take ownership of his new estate. What he finds though, are a group of shady individuals living in it, who are seemingly up to no good. Our hero then tries to get to the bottom of this mysterious situation.

House of Secrets is another in the seemingly endless cycle of 30's mystery films. I found it all-in-all to be one of the more enjoyable ones, as there are quite a few plot threads going on, so the film never drags. When it comes to old creaky Poverty Row movies you do have to keep your expectations in check, as these old flicks do have definite limitations. This one does have many of the deficits of these pictures – flat dialogue, a lack of suspense and a ridiculous plot – but it at least tries to keep us entertained throughout with plenty of characters and plot avenues. So overall, as these films go, this one's not too bad at all.

The House of Secrets starts with an intriguing shipboard encounter: Leslie Fenton (as Barry) assists Muriel Evans (Julie) escape the unwanted attentions of a stranger. She thanks him nicely—but when he attempts to take a look in her handbag for whatever it was the stranger was after, she—get this—throws the whole bag overboard rather than let him see its contents! Hmm, mysterious.

Not surprisingly, they soon meet again (in a major but not shocking coincidence, she happens to be living at the large estate he has just inherited), and she becomes one of numerous characters determinedly resisting Barry's attempts not only to enter his own property, but to find out what the heck is going on. These characters include practically everyone else in the story—his detective friend, Julie's scientist father, some police and government officials, and a gang of crooks after a hidden treasure.

The plot is fast-moving and fairly intricate, and the dialog is mostly sharp. However, as the story progresses, frustration builds—not only for Barry but for us viewers, who also have no idea why everyone is trying so hard to keep him in the dark. By late in the film, my own sympathies had shifted almost entirely over to the gang of crooks, because at least they were straightforward about what they wanted, which is something you can't say about any of the other characters.

The movie also features an ancient document written in "old English," which means it has some words like "ye" and "olde" in it, that is fun for the gangsters to try and sound out. And an inn landlady offers some entertaining colloquial dialog, like her criticism of her husband's aches and pains: "He calls it rheumatism, but I calls it arthritis. I likes to keep up to date." Nothing is particularly authentic, but hey, I point that out in fun, not as a real quibble with the film. Overall, the dialog is one of this film's quite interesting qualities.

Overall: well done—but maddening.

Likable cad Fenton stars as an affable, assertive gent who inherits a mansion following the death of a distant uncle. When he attempts to take possession of the mansion, he discovers a group of shady characters occupying the house, including a sultry beauty (Evans) with whom he had a bizarre encounter on the ship across the Atlantic. Along with his detective pal (Blackmer), the pair soon discovers that there's more than meets the eye to the supposedly haunted house, its strange occupancy (a raving lunatic) and a gang of murderous thieves converging on an alleged hidden treasure.

It's all happening at a brisk pace, with fast-talking Fenton quite a gregarious chap, Evans an attractive and mysterious vice, while in my opinion, Blackmer was the best performer, displaying a professionalism and ease that made him a bankable talent for six decades in a long and illustrious career.

While the conclusion is a little hackneyed, there's some effort gone into the neatly woven plot, with all loose ends tying together, albeit a little conveniently. It's the strength of the three leads (Fenton, Evans and Blackmer) that elevates this run-of-the-mill tale to average status.

The wise-cracking Leslie Fenton (as "Barry") sounds quite a bit like James Cagney in his gangster days. The lovely Muriel Evans (as "Julie") looks quite a bit like Jean Harlow. The movie is not a true "Old Dark House" movie, because it doesn't have some of the elements required to qualify, but there is an old dark house, a hidden treasure, & lots of mystery. "House of Secrets" is interesting, the dialog is snappy with lots of current day (copyright 1936) slang, the acting is good, the sets are dark & spooky, & there are a few neat sub-plots (one involving Chicago mobsters). What drags this movie down a bit is the redundancy. I couldn't count the number of times Barry asks "What's going on?" & Julie (among many others) replies "I can't tell you." Although I was eventually able to guess the ending, it was difficult to figure out, & fun meanwhile. I rate it 6/10.