Green Eyes

I'm not that familiar with the mystery genre or era (1930s) at all, but I quite liked this murder mystery. Some old guy gets bumped off during a fancy dress party and stuffed in a cupboard, and it's up to the police and a smug murder mystery writer to figure out who the culprit was. Was it the spoiled granddaughter and her boyfriend? Or the secretary and his wife? Or the housekeeper? Or the old business partner? The police try and find out the only way they know – by cornering people in the house and barking rapid fire questions at them for the entire first half of the film. This sounds boring but it kind of got me all fired up too, so much so that I started firing rapid questions at my wife. Where's my dinner? Why don't you shut those kids up? Why are coming towards me with that knife?

It's all pretty brisk stuff as the writer guy snoops around and generally acts like a total pain as he tries to rumble the perp. As this film was made in the 1800s it's not full of blood and gore and sex as we've all come to expect, what with being brought up on Fulci films, but for a glimpse into a by-gone age (30BC) I thought Green Eyes was charming and I'll tip my hat to it.

Are there stand out films of this type? I'd like to know. The Pre-Cambrian explosion mystery film intrigues me.

During the 1930s, Hollywood made a ton of murder mysteries. While they continued to make some in the 40s, the 30s was by far the most prolific period--and most of them were B-movies. These Bs had relatively unknown actors, simple plots and usually ended in about an hour...more or less. And, because I love old films, I've seen so many that they're all starting to look the same.

Take, for instance, "Green Eyes". It has all the elements you'll find in such a murder film. There is always a know-it-all guy who isn't with the local police--in this case a guy who writes murder mysteries who just happens to be there. There are misdirections galore--with too many folks lying and a supposed suicide to cover up the real murder. The plot is also, at times, too complicated and full of unnecessary details (such as the whole green eyes angle). Not surprisingly, the well-trained professional cops are complete morons. Heck, by watching these films you'd think cops NEVER solved crimes more taxing than jaywalking! And, the film is made entirely of unknown actors. No, none of the film is all that original or all that good, though I did like that they made the writer a bit of a smart-mouth. Worth seeing if you're not yet sick of the genre, but there certainly are similar yet better films out there--such as any of the Charlie Chan films or "Footsteps in the Dark".

This somewhat less than rewarding production is based closely upon a novel by Harriette Ashbrook: "The Murder Of Steven Kester", to a point of its inclusion of substantial swatches of Ashbrook's stilted dialogue, but since the original book remains safely confined within a rather narrow spectrum of sleuthing utilized by the English writer, it can be no surprise that the film is also dull and generally predictable. Action opens briskly with assistant director Melville Shyer, who also contributes the script, effectively leading a congregation of extras during a lively costume party sequence, this festivity organized at the home of wealthy Steven Kester by his granddaughter Jean (Shirley Grey) as a diversion to facilitate her unobstructed elopement with beau Cliff Miller (William Bakewell). Here the pace of the film begins to flag as journeyman director Richard Thorpe mishandles the tempo following discovery of Steven Kester's corpse, decorated with stab wounds, and a homicide investigation then begins under the supervision of Captain (or Chief, at times Inspector) Crofton (John Wray) who fails to acknowledge any recognizable form of correct investigative police procedures as he browbeats a large contingent of available suspects. Needless to report, many of these latter have apparent motives to have committed the slaying, and if Crofton neglects one of them, a meddlesome crime novelist, Michael Tracy (Charles Starrett), a recurring lead character as "Spike Tracy" in the publications of Ashbrook, is on hand to abet the detective. Viewers, however, will not require similar assistance, due to the story hardly being abstruse enough to challenge most armchair detectives. Production values for this low tier Chesterfield Pictures item are expectedly paltry, but some performances from players are to be valued, in particular a brief turn by Lloyd Whitlock, and neatly developed characterizations from Grey and Dorothy Revier as female suspects. Director Thorpe, ever respectful of his cast members, and especially of those whom are stage trained, leads with a loose rein.

"A stately country mansion is the sight of a costume party thrown by its wealthy owner. The masquerade party comes to an abrupt end when the host is found dead in a closet, his body full of stab wounds. Now the authorities and a crime novelist, who is a guest at the party, must sort through the guest list and uncover the identity of the murderer," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

This dull whodunit stars handsome Charles Starrett (as Michael Tracy), despite the billing. Later, he became known as the western hero "The Durango Kid", one of the biggest "Box Office Western Stars" of the forties. As in other films, filmmakers got the ex-football star to partially undress, something usually reserved for women. Herein, you can catch Mr. Starrett in his pajama bottoms.

**** Green Eyes (6/15/34) Richard Thorpe ~ Charles Starrett, John Wray, Shirley Grey

Charles starrett, shirley grey. The kesters throw a costume party that goes very wrong! As the bodies start piling up, the coppers try to figure out what's going on. Unfortunately, both the sound and the picture quality are pretty awful. It seems to be the same ol issue where they made copies of copies, and the copies got progressively worse. This version showed on tubi streaming, and it gets pretty bad at times. In fact, the last ten seconds of the film, the camera zooms in on the typewriter... but it's so blurry, we can only make out some of the words. In this case, the poor picture quality really interfered with the story. Which was already shakey to begin with. Directed by richard thorpe. He later worked with elvis a couple times. John wray, who plays the inspector/captain, (although they keep calling him "chief") died young at 53. The imdb cast list says inspector, while the actual film lists him as captain. The story is based on the novel by h ashbrook. This seems to be the only film made from his work.