Strangers of the Evening

The presence of Eugene Pallette flags a movie as worth a try for me, but not only are the goings-on in this film mechanically presented, the poor quality of the print I saw made the viewing even more tedious. The intended comedic elements should have made this a sure-fire entertainment, but my mind was caught drifting off more than once. Nothing here to remember.

This is very watchable. A good mix of intrigue and humour.

I honestly don't know if this was meant to be comedy. It did have plenty of goofy little moments, but considering that the film isn't the least bit funny, I have my doubts.

This film begins with a man having an argument with a young lady's father. He wants to marry her, but her father is adamantly against it. You see them arguing and a few moments later, the father's body is found in the alley behind a mortuary. You assume the young man did this--and so do the police. Oddly, when the corpse is discovered, the bystanders drop it off at the funeral home and their reactions are very weird--not at all what you'd expect. In fact, many times throughout the film, weirdos (as well as corpses) appear and disappear regularly--but none of this is funny or helps much with the film--or has much to do with the mystery. This makes the film quirky--but not altogether satisfying. And, with this relatively dull script and most indifferent acting and directing, it's only a weak time-passer at best.

This murder mystery cum comedy is seriously hard work to enjoy. Talky and slow moving mystery concerns a couple of bodies turning up at the local morgue, then disappearing, with detectives seemingly bombarded by unusual suspects but no motives. Framed for the murder of one of the corpses, local Doctor (von Eltz) decides to solve the crime himself before he's wrongly arraigned.

Zasy Pitts offers comic timing and a familiar hound-dog expression and urban drawl, but even her professional touch can't muster enough spark to light this drab affair. Miriam Seegar is an attractive souther belle with little more to do here than hang like the handbag that adorns her arm and deliver inane dialogue. Warner Richmond also features in a trademark role as the conniving villain.

Frequent newspaper inserts substitute for the narrative, while there's the usual silhouettes and shady conspiracies to thicken the plot, alluding to much more than is eventually delivered. There's an amusing punch-up near the end, and the parallel story lines successfully connect at the film's 'all is explained' conclusion, but even at only 65 minutes, it's still a bit of a yawn.

A bizarre and convoluted little black comedy (and the first feature from director H. Bruce Humberstone) told at a frenetic pace that makes it too busy to be boring, but which feels as if it is trying a little too hard to be quirky. The cast give it their all, with Harold Waldridge standing out as a nervous Morgue attendant, and Eugene Pallette croaking his lines as a weary police detective.