Secret of the Blue Room

Secret of the Blue Room (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Forgotten Universal mystery/horror film about a haunted room that kills whomever stays the night in it. Is it a ghost or something else? I was shocked to see how well made this film was and the direction added some nice atmosphere along the way. The story is very well written with a nice mystery and a wonderful ending that certainly caught me off guard. The only weak part is some of the police investigation. Stars Lionel Atwill and Gloria Stuart. Rare but certainly worth searching for. I might even prefer this to The Old Dark House, which shared some of the same sets as this film.

Remade twice by Universal.

Three men all in love with the same woman decide to spend the night in the cursed "blue" room where tragedy strikes who ever spends the night. Of course tragedy again strikes and the police are called into solve the crime.

Grand Universal mystery thriller suffers from having been remade both officially and unofficially over the years. The film itself is a remake of an earlier German film so I guess turn about is fair play.

Feeling more like an old friend rather than a griping thriller this film is a good little mystery. Odds are you'll know whats going on, but you won't mind since the cast is the real reason to see this. Paul Lukas is a dashing military man, Lionel Atwill is the owner of the cursed house, Gloria Stewart is the woman in question and Edward Arnold is the detective called in to solve the crime. They are all aided by a strong supporting cast of Universal studio regulars.

This is one to make an effort to see especially if you're a fan of good, if familiar, mysteries.

7 out of 10 due to the passage of time and the multiple remakes.

This is, what, the fourth classic Universal horror film to start with the same rendition of Swan Lake? "Secret of the Blue Room" revolves around a mansion with a cursed room, were three unsolved murders have occurred over. In order to impress the object of their desire (Third time in a row Gloria Stuart has shown up), three suitors each decide to spend a night in the seemingly haunted room. Murder follows, mysteries are investigated, and red herrings abound.

If this movie was a book, we'd call it a great airport read. It's generally unremarkable and didn't offer anything particularly new, even in 1933. The film is a straight mystery with only marginal horror elements. There's some light Gothic trappings, such as a silhouette shot of the mansion right out of "The Cat and the Canary" and a great scene of Gloria being attacked by a fedora clad villain, who we naturally only see in shadow. The climax takes place in a spider web covered secret dungeon. The cast is good, truthfully. Lionel Atwill, as the girl's father, plays up his natural creepiness. William Janney as the youngest suitor and Paul Lukas, with his strong accent, are both more interesting then your typical Hollywood romantic leads of the time. My favorite performance has to be Edward Arnold as the detective. His uncompromising interrogation techniques make the second half of the movie energetic and fun. Mary the cook provides some amusing comic relief, with her anxious insistence not to be incriminated in the case.

I was sort of surprised to find out the movie isn't based on a stage play, with its small cast and limited locations. It's not a particularly memorable film but it is a decent way to spend an hour, a good example of the sub-genre. Universal was weirdly fond of the story, remaking it twice, in '38 as The Missing Guest and in '44 as Murder in the Blue Room, a musical/comedy. Funnily, each was in black and white meaning we just have to take the movie's word on the titular room's primary color.

A bit rusty and dusty, this film made by Universal in 1933 tells of three men infatuated with the daughter of Lionel Atwill who all agree for sake of ego to stay in the mysterious "blue" room, a room where no one has gone into for twenty or so years because of all the terrible things that befell the inhabitants of that room. Gloria Stuart plays the beautiful object of their affection and carefully plays on the sidelines as each man prepares and stays in the blue room. What happens? Well, that would be giving too much away, but what does ensue is a nice, tight mystery for the most part with some credible red herrings and a somewhat plausible and innovative resolution. Lionel Atwill does a fine job in his patriarchal role as does Stuart. Paul Lukas, Onslow Stevens, and the rest of the cast also do fine jobs. Story really moves this film along, and the script is very good for this time period and for a mystery. My print was somewhat faded and I am not sure if a crisper print exists. I hope so. I know it will be sometime - if anytime - for this film to get the proper DVD treatment is deserves.

Do you like mysterious mysteries? I don't mean mysteries where the murderer is tipped off right away, and then it becomes a cat-and-mouse game with a detective, I mean the ones in which you can't guess the murderer. Well, here is one of the latter, and it was, as I said in my title, a surprise.

This is a very old picture, and the nuts and bolts of the plot have been done to death; people in a scary old castle, dying off one by one due to a curse, and several servants under varying degrees of suspicion. All been done before. Gloria Stuart is lovely and sings a tuneful song, Lionel Atwill is sinister, Edward Arnold is an upstanding Police Commisioner. Just fill in the blanks for plot details. But the ending will really get your attention, which accounts for my rating of seven.

7/10 - website no longer prints my star rating.