Murder by Invitation

No doubt prompted by the success of Elliot Nugent's 1939 remake of THE CAT AND THE CANARY, Monogram's MURDER BY INVITATION is a spit polishing of dusty doings distinguished by a cagey awareness of its own derivativeness. Like the imperiled teens of Wes Craven's SCREAM, the dramatis personae here – heirs to a sizeable legacy - enter into danger with full knowledge of the rules of the game - with comic star Wallace Ford (FREAKS) even cracking: `I'm the handsome young juvenile of this story – he never gets hurt.'

Supporting the ever-watchable Ford is a cast of faces familiar from the Poverty Roll payroll: Sarah Padden (THE MAD MONSTER), Dave O'Brien (THE DEVIL BAT, REEFER MADNESS), Minerva Urecal (THE CORPSE VANISHES) and John James (DEVIL BAT'S DAUGHTER), as well as Marian Marsh (Trilby to John Barrymore's SVENGALI) and Gavin Gordon (Lord Byron in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN). A former Edison camera man turned prominent silent film director (ABRAHAM LINCOLN), Phil Rosen exhibits little enthusiasm for George Bricker's scenario, and seems grateful that the conventions of the murder mystery allow characters to remain seated for long stretches at a time. French cameraman Marcel Le Picard also shot the low-rent SPOOKS RUN WILD and VOODOO MAN.

Not a must-see film, but undemanding fun for fans of the murder mystery - and Wallace Ford never disappoints.

"Murder by Invitation" is a B film from 1941 starring Wallace Ford as Bob White, a reporter who covers the trial of an elderly woman (Sara Padden) whose relatives want to have her declared insane so they can have her $3 million. She proves that she's very far from insane in an amusing court scene.

She then invites her family to her estate for the weekend. She wants to observe all of them and decide which family member is most deserving of her money. She wants them to arrive at midnight, which makes some of them nervous. Not long after they settle in, relatives start dying.

Good B with Wallace Ford and Marian Marsh as an attractive couple, and Sara Padden is quite sprightly as the dowager. The end is interesting and fun.

This is a comedy using the murder mystery genre as background. The main characters are a bit stiff - especially considering this was made in 1941 - but it's not a bad hour spent. The story revolves around old aunt Cassie, whose odd 'uh-heh' laugh is closer to caricature than character-defining. The newspaper columnist who serves as the detective in this film, is played by Wallace Ford. He and his secretary (?) and photographer play their stereotypical roles no better than the stereotypes you'd expect. The sheriff - presumably from New York somewhere, as that's where the court case was heard - sounds more like an Okie than an upstate New Yorker, and follows his own stereotype of the hayseed lawman, accent included. Of course, he's a buffoon as well, asking the newspaper columnist for advice at every turn.

So we know the flaws. Still, this was a B movie, intended as filler, and that's how we should judge it. There's nothing about it that made me want to hit the stop button - unlike some stinkers - and for fans of 1930s mysteries, it's an acceptable detour into comedy. Not laugh out loud comedy, but light amusement. It's out of copyright, and I found it on a 5 CD collection Mystery and Murder: 25 Crime Classics at my library. So it was worth every penny I paid for it.

This is the kind of film, where you will really have a hard time deciding if you like it or not. Basically it is nothing more than a very, very clichéd murder mystery, but it is fully aware of that and make no secret about it. And that is what almost saves this one. But only almost.

There is nothing here that we haven't seen dozens, hundreds of times: old rich lady with greedy relatives, who are all sweet and lovely with her in one minute and try to put her in an asylum the next. We have the ambitious, but pretty much clueless local sheriff, the clever reporter (Wallace Ford), who does all the job the police should, his pretty assistant and all those other stock characters that pop up at all the similar films. Did I mention the old house, filled with hidden corridors? And that the old lady decides the invite all the would-be heirs to her house at midnight? Sounds familiar? Sure it does.

But what makes this one stand out is that it is not just completely aware of its clichéd nature, but actually makes fun of itself all the time. And these in-jokes provide easily the best moments of the movie. The scene where Ford states, that he can't die, as he is the handsome young hero or when they even go as far as mentioning their most obvious inspiration, The Cat and the Canary (which had a hugely successful remake two years before this came out), referring to its similar invited-at-midnight theme...? Priceless! But my personal favorite is probably when Ford states that "There comes a time in every murder mystery, when all the corpus delicti are missing and it generally happens just past the middle of the picture." Guess what happens in the movie and when. But we even know who's going to be the first victim, way before the actual murder takes place. This self-reflection really works fine.

The problem is that beside this the film has nearly nothing to offer. The screenplay is pretty badly written: the opening scene at the court already puts our expectations pretty low (the wisecracking lady is pretty funny, but the lawyer's complete lack of evidence make the whole scene very awkward), no surprises, no suspense, the characters are mostly very shallow (after they get killed, you will have a hard time remembering who some of the victims were) and even the motives are rather pointless. And while the actors are OK, there aren't any memorable performances.

Too bad. With a bit more effort, it could be a little gem, like the rather similar, but far superior One Frightened Night (1935 - also starring Wallace Ford), which worked wonders with its similarly minimal budget. But this way, this hardly passes as a time-passer.

Rich old Aunt Cassie considers herself "the only sane person in a family of nitwits." She invites her greedy relatives to the creaky family mansion—instructing them to arrive on Friday at midnight—where she will decide which of them will inherit her millions. Needless to say, it's not long before the murders start….

Vanishing corpses, secret passageways—murder spoof elements abound in this extremely goofy murder mystery. Assorted crackpot characters include several shifty relatives, an oddball sheriff, and a snoopy neighbor.

Sarah Padden cackles gleefully as the eccentric Aunt Cassie. Wallace Ford is tough to dislike as wisecracking newspaper reporter Bob White. Marian Marsh is lively and likable as White's assistant Nora, although she isn't given much to do except keep up with Ford's jokes and detective work.

This Monogram production is certainly a cheapie: while some scenes look like they may have been rehearsed, others definitely don't. However… a sense of good natured fun carries the picture along, and joviality mostly makes up for lack of production polish.

Also livening up this B mystery are a few cute comments alluding to the fact that this is, in fact, a B mystery. Just past the midway point, for example, Ford discusses the two missing corpses: Dead bodies, he says, always go missing in murder mysteries and "it generally happens just past the middle of the picture."

It ain't profound but it's pretty easy viewing for those who enjoy good silly lowbrow fun.

And what a great closing line!