A Strange Adventure

Silas Wayne is about to read the benefactors of his will to his nearest relatives and associates (whom he all hates and thinks nothing of), when he fulfills the eternal movie cliché of dying just before he is about to read the stipulations. Two police officers (who were summoned by Wayne, so that he could reveal a criminal in his midst to) summon Detective Sergeant Mitchell to investigate the murder. Nosy Toodles (a newspaper reporter) also works to solve the crime with Mitchell, much to his regret. The prime suspect is Claude Wayne, nephew and secretary to the murdered man, who stole a valuable diamond which was to be given to Wayne's maid, Ms. Sheen, but a mysterious cloaked figure lurks the house that evening and strangles Claude Wayne and also tries to eliminate all the other murder suspects one by one. This movie was described on the title card as "A Monogram Melodrama" and the filmmakers emphasized that part to the fullest. It has plenty of murder mystery clichés and performances that are respective of the genre, but the film is badly directed by Whitman, with many scenes just taken forever to go on. June Clyde probably gives the only performance with any life in it, and Snowflake's "comedy" antics are somewhat painful to watch. The end does seem to come out of nowhere, since I thought a lot more substance would precede it. All in all, a decent poverty row mystery. Rating, 5.

A fairly good murder mystery of the Old Dark House variety. It has many of the cliches of the genre, but also avoids many of the usual cliches, & has an interesting storyline. June Clyde is cute & vivacious as a newspaper reporter. Regis Toomey is adequate as the police lieutenant. Dwight Frye is a bit nutty in a small roll (still recovering from his role in "Dracula"?). There are a couple of murders, but disappointingly, no secret passageways or doors & no thunderstorm. There is a mysterious figure walking around in oversized monk's robes, though, & that's pretty neat. Good effort by all, but falls a little short. I rate it 6/10.

It's a short B mystery. Wealthy William V. Mong calls together his relatives to tell them that they're despicable and he's writing a new will. Before he can sign it, he collapses and dies. Detective Regis Toomey comes in to question them. While he is doing so, reporter June Clyde comes in, sasses him, and assists him in his investigation.

If you're looking for a script with plenty of red herrings and everyone a likely-looking suspect, this is a decent B movie for you. If you're looking for a decent mystery, in which the audience has all the clues before the murderer is announced, it fails. There's one key piece of evidence that is withheld until the murderer is caught.

It's co-directed by Sennett veterans Hampton Del Ruth and Phil Whitman; Del Ruth took a co-writing credit. The comedic larks are limited to Miss Clyde, who enters the crime scene by by claiming to be the widow of the murdered man, and by annoying Toomey by behaving like a naughty child. There's also 'Snowflake' Toones doing his cowardly bit. Other than that, it's one of those mysteries that could be a decent radio play ... except for the withheld clue.

Cameraman Leon Shamroy gets a few grace notes, with a camera that pans a bit and a couple of point-of-view shots. They may have satisfied him, but they don't add much.

So this film was made on Poverty Row, where actors went to make a quick buck when the big studios weren't underpaying them. The only thing that makes this film memorable compared to the dozens of others with more or less the same plot is the inclusion of Dwight Frye of Renfeild fame as one of the relatives.

An angry old man gathers his relatives for the reading of his will, after dissing many of them, he has a fainting spell and is found with a bad case of a dagger to the heart.

The rest of the movie is a detective and reporter romantic couple trying to unravel the case. It also includes a not-so-fun racist stereotype of the easily frightened black domestic employee... because that stuff was funny to people in the 1930's.

Like many of these early 1930's films, there's no music (they hadn't figured that out yet) and the blocking of the movie was more like a stage play.

"A Strange Adventure" is a 1930s B-movie with a very standard plot...in fact, hundreds of similar films were made during that decade. Because of this, fans of 1930s films might just feel underwhelmed by it...a case of 'been there, done that'.

A rich guy has brought all his hated family to his home to discuss his will and sign a new one. However, as he is signing, he collapses and a knife is found plunged into his chest...yet no one seemed to see who did it. A police detective (Regis Toomey) arrives to investigate and he brings along a couple dopey cops to help. Additionally, a spunky female reporter shows up and she just happens to be the detective's girlfriend.

As I said in the summary, pretty much all the usual cliches of these sorts of movies are present. Because of this, there are very few surprises. Additionally, much of the acting and dialog are on the cheesy side. As a result, it's not a film I'd recommend unless you want a simple, no demand time-passer.

By the way, Fred 'Snowflake' Toones appears in this one as comic relief. An adult man called 'Snowflake' and his antics (mostly being afraid of everything) are a sad sign of the times...when laughing at childish black men was considered not only acceptable but fun.