The Phantom of Crestwood

This one does not show up very often, so watch for it. It's a rather curious film directed by journeyman director J. Walter Rubens and has a cast to die for if you are an early film buff.....Ricardo Cortez, Karen Morley, H.B. Warner Pauline Frederick, Anita Louise et al.

The story revolves around a thoroughly unlikeable schemer (Karen Morley) who is a blackmailer and all around con woman. Inviting her former victims to a party she makes one last demand for money and is murdered by one of those guests.....but who? Other murders occur and general mayhem results. The murderer wears a glowing mask which adds a nice touch to the creepiness of this film The identity of the killer is fairly easy to guess but that does not take away from the film's interest. When finally cornered by Ricardo Cortez, the killer's manner of demise is rather surprising and the camera work on the death scene is quite good for the time.

This is a tidy little film that runs just over an hour. It's a keeper.

Guys, check out the clinging gowns the girls wear. Kind of makes me wish I was born a lot sooner. Also, those early scenes are provocative by innuendo, when we find out the sleek Jenny Wren (Morley) is really a high-class call girl, implicating some of the city's most powerful men. In fact, the undercurrent is a topical theme of the times since these guys are bankers and politicians, the very types that crashed the economy several years earlier. I'll bet audiences of the time appreciated that angle. Applying that to today, it seems like some things never change.

This first part is intriguing and well done, but once the action switches to Crestwood Manor, the plot settles into a more familiar type murder mystery. It's an interesting, if complicated puzzle, with lots of flashbacks and suspects. But once Morley drops out, a powerful presence is lost, one that Cortez (Curtis) can't equal. In fact, there're an unusual number of strong female performers deserving mention-- Pauline Frederick as the snobbish aunt, Hilda Vaughn as the tart-tongued maid, and Aileen Pringle as the abrasive Mrs. Walcott. Include the beauteous Anita Louise as Jenny's sister, and the women of the movie far outshine the men in both appearance and stage presence.

All in all, it's a superior little murder mystery that director Ruben wisely keeps from bogging down into too much talk, a 70-minutes that also includes an unusually atmospheric last scene. But most of all, the film's a showcase for that fine, fine actress Karen Morley, and a chance to see her if you never have.

What a clever film! Other comments here will fill you in on the content but let me say how interesting and unique is this film for its interactive and multimedia history. Made as the last chapter of a radio play released into cinemas instead of a radio broadcast, this film must have been an interesting and successful experiment in its day. It is also quite creepy and the pre code violence, in particular a stabbing scene on a stairway is very gruesome and explicit. The outdoor scenes almost seem to be testing the boundaries of technical sound and picture achievements of 1931 during production. I paid $3 for a VHS copy of this superb mystery film from a discount shop in Sydney. It is part of a series released here as THE RKO COLLECTION which I see for some reason is not available in the USA. The IMDb availability panel preceding shows that there is no tape or DVD availability for it. Well we have it here..along with The Most Dangerous Game, Island of Dr Moreau, Hips Hips Hooray, Mummy's Boys etc and a whole stack of 1930-33 RKO titles, all marketed legitimately with copyright. How strange Australia can have these but not the USA.

It's sad that Karen Morley had to be killed halfway through The Phantom Of Crestwood. Even though the mystery of her death is solved in the end you are left with the memory of her performance. Definitely one of Morley's best as she essays the role of a hard hearted woman who wants a life of ease and comfort.

This woman has made a habit of soaking the rich and she only aims her sights at the old and wealthy. Karen doesn't lack for chutzpah as she persuades one of her conquests banker H.B.Warner and his sister Pauline Frederick to host a nice soirée where she plans to ask Warner and three other of her male 'friends' who were indiscreet enough to leave incriminating letters enough money for the soft life in Europe. But also as it turns out Morley's sister Anita Louise will be there as the fiancé of Warner's son, Matty Kemp.

During the party Morley is killed with a dart and Morley's made sure she has a house full of suspects. An uninvited guest is Ricardo Cortez who's got a bad reputation and he has a vested interest in clearing this case up before the police get there. Seems like they'd love to hang a murder rap on him.

This is a good well plotted murder mystery and a real undiscovered gem if you're a mystery fan or a fan of Karen Morley.

This one is getting a 7/10 from me just on originality, even if the proceedings were a bit rushed and confusing. The film opens with a radio announcer asking the listeners to solve the mystery. But then the film solves it for you? A well dressed fur wrapped woman (Karen Morley as Jenny Wren) is going around town running errands. She is being followed by a man (Ricardo Cortez) yet unnamed for an unnamed purpose, but he does not want to give his correct name and keeps calling himself "Mr. Farnesbarnes" to anyone who asks. He obviously does not know the woman because he poses as somebody interested in renting her soon to be vacated apartment, and she does not recognize him.

That night Jenny has arranged for all of the married and well connected men with whom she has been having affairs to meet at the Andes seaside retreat home, "Crestwood", where she announces she is blackmailing them all for large sums of money so that she can retire in style. In a completely separate development, Jenny's little sister is there to with her fiancé, Frank Andes, the son of one of the men Jenny is blackmailing. Little sister is hoping to be welcomed into the Andes family. In the middle of the night, Jenny is killed with a dart to the neck, the police are called before the phone goes out, and in burst several hoods led by Gary Curtis alias Farnesbarnes, who has nothing to do with the murder but is a well known criminal. Knowing the police will try to pin the murder on him he sets about to try and solve the crime. He can do this because he and his companions are all armed. Oh, and the road is washed out too, delaying the police.

What follows is part Sherlock Holmes, part Old Dark House, part Poe (those portraits!), part German Expressionist with some crazy camera work, a ghost, hidden passage ways, and more murders. I was expecting this all to be the work of George Zucco, but alas he wasn't in the film. Ricardo Cortez is a real hoot in this one, showing a bit of his comedic side.