Murder in Soho

I watched this movie recently, after reading all the mostly bad reviews on here, & enjoyed it. Its nice to see ruggedly handsome Jack La Rue play the gangster nightclub owner. He is very charming and suave, but when he cracks, its like lightening. There are a lot of great characters in this relatively short film, & amusing moments. Australian born Googie Withers stands out in a rather light headed Billie Burke type role, as part of a comedy duo, waiting for their big break. There are a couple of running gags, the guys who look after the boss playing darts all day, & the couple playing the slot machine. I also liked a part of the dance floor opening up in a circular platform, that goes down then up.

Not for one moment was I bored, the clothes and sets are great, & Jack La Rue holds his own, in this curiosity set in Soho.

This is an odd mix of British crime drama and American gangster film that is a bit too slow, even at 70 minutes.

The plot has to do with a nightclub in London that's run by an American gangster. Through the doors come an assortment of quirky characters. Marco, the gangster, is running a variety of rackets on the side which the police suspect but can't prove. While people party out side Marco kills someone in his office, just as an inspector, arrives to nose around.

If that sounds exciting, it really isn't. This is a good idea, not very well handled since much of the film is taken up by scenes in the club with the various people coming having a good time. There's romance, lots of humor and some nice acting but the film has the feel of one of the quota films that were produced in England in the 1930's and 40's as a way of keeping the British film industry alive. While this produced many classics, it also produced many duds and near misses. This is a near miss.

If you see it and you don't mind a too slowly paced film, then by all means, but anyone looking for a movie that moves best look elsewhere.

A dreadfully boring, dull and lifeless "crime" film that was originally released in the UK as MURDER IN SOHO in 1939 and then released in the States as MURDER IN THE NIGHT in 1940. I watched this last night and even at about only 70 minutes, the film dragged and nearly had me nodding off a couple of times. The film stars Jack La Rue as this big time night club owner and "criminal" who wants only things that the finer parts of life can offer. La Rue actually comes off as likable and is hard to take seriously as a gangster. As a matter of fact, if you look quickly at him from time to time, he resembles Ricky Ricardo! Sandra Storme gives a horrid performance as the new night club act who's help is requested by Scotland Yard to help put an end to La Rue's "criminal reign". A total of four gunshots are fired in the film and there is absolutely no action. Instead you get nearly 70 minutes of hokey dialogue, song and dance and terrible stabs at comedic relief. All in all, a pretty awful movie.

Jack La Rue plays a nightclub owner whom is keen to climb the social ladder and to swap his girlfriend for another with 'more class'. Given some of the people he is mixing with, including the double-crossing criminal he shoots, this hardly seems an unreasonable ambition. And with La Rue failing to come over as remotely menacing, you end up feeling rather sorry for him. So as a story it doesn't really work and I can understand those who found it all dreadfully dull. Though I found quite a bit to enjoy, including the opening sweeping views of the West-End of 1938 at night, and the nightclub scenes with the banter and the revelry that take up so much of the running time, including the amusing performance from the young Googie Withers, as well as the clothes of the period. A curiosity is the number of American actors involved. Surely they had not all made the long journey to Elstree to make a picture that was only ever going to be a supporting feature?

A Soho Night club run by American gangster Steve Marco, is a thriving hotspot for the young and fabulous, but it's also the scene of a murder, a man threatens to expose the owner's dodgy past, and gets killed for his troubles.

It's actually a pretty solid film, the story isn't bad at all, it's interesting enough, even if it is one you've seen several times before.

It's nicely shot, and pretty well paced, it is quite dialogue heavy in parts, but it still moves about pretty well.

Watch it because you love the era, the opulent decadence of it, expect glitzy sets and incredible fashions, an era where people clearly knew what style and sophistication was.

The casting was good, it's a very competent, glamorous cast, Jack La Rue is good as the villain of the piece, rugged and roguish, he definitely had presence.

Sandra Storme and the wonderful Google Withers both played their parts very well.

6/10.