The Riverside Murder

THE RIVERSIDE MURDER (1935) starts with a bang as Robert Norman (Aubrey Mallalieu) is dispatched in the study with the revolver.

This is the first big case for Inspector Philip Winton's (Basil Sydney) first big case he is assisted by Police Sgt. 'Mac' McKay (Alastair Sim). Everyone is being dogged by armature reporter Claire Haines (Judy Gunn.)

Turn out it is the standard tontine mystery. So, more participants may be dispatched.

Too many explanations and of course the murderer probably pops out of the closest at the last minute. Why do we not get all the information during the movie?

Because there is no butler, I assume it is the housekeeper.

The Riverside Murder is a British quota quickie, notable only for being the film debut of Alastair Sim.

Shortly before an important meeting of five investors, one of them, Robert Norman, is shot dead in his study. It becomes apparent that all the investors are in danger as two others are knocked off.

Sim supplies the energy, and Judy Gunn as reporter Claire Haines supplies the aggravation.

The film uses the device of a gun barrel being seen in a doorway shooting someone.

Sloppily done, with the reporter (hanging up the phone and then the phone conversation continuing.

Alistair Sim, from this humble beginning, will go on to great things.

A pushy reporter, an amusing cop, a diligent detective, and a murder with a house full of suspects. I guess Hollywood wasn't the only source of this popular 30's formula. Here It's the British and they do it up in engaging fashion. Seems a money pact was once agreed upon that would reward the four investors at a date that's about to expire. Maybe that's why some beneficiaries are suddenly getting mysteriously shot. So can Inspector Winton figure it out before the last survivor gets rewarded. But then wouldn't he have to be the killer! Stay tuned since it's a puzzling whodunit nicely thought out. And who is actress Gunn. Too bad her career was brief since her brassy reporter pretty much steals a film that does keep things moving. And, oh yes, actor Ian Fleming is unrelated to the James Bond impresario of the same name. (I was hoping otherwise.) All in all, it's a pretty good time-passer whose British accents didn't get in the way of my American ears.

A rich man is killed in his home. There appears to be no reason for the murder, however there are several suspects: the house keeper, two house guests and a mysterious woman who left just before the murder. The Police dispatch two detectives to take charge of the case and it soon transpires that there is ample reason for numerous people to bump off the dead man.

This is one of those mystery movies that you'd watch even if the mystery wasn't good simply because the characters are so much fun to watch. The detectives in this case are Basil Sydney and Alastair Sim and they make a fine team. Sydney is a charming detective with a slightly smart ass style. Watch how he deals with the small child who's lost his mother, its very funny. Sim is his second and is typically a bit of a bumbler, but nicely he is not a complete idiot. Mistakes are made but more often then not they are honest ones.

The mystery is a good one with the murder having no apparent motive, then suddenly taking on a motive and then turning and twisting as suspects come and go. The plot moves rapidly and we actually get a decent reason why everyone is cooped up in the house where the murder takes place, the side trips outside the crime scenes confines are also logical. I'm also pretty sure that the movie plays fair with the solution, or at least mostly fair (I'm not quite sure because I was tired when I watched this and may have missed something.) This is a grand little movie that seems to have been unjustly lost to the ages. Its a sterling little mystery thats almost in an Agatha Christie sort of way, which isn't surprising since the film is based on a mystery novel of Christie's heyday. This is a movie to search out and find. Its a movie that belongs in your video player while you have a bag of popcorn and a soda.

8 out of 10.

THE RIVERSIDE MURDER (Fox Film Company / UK / 1935)

6 down-on-their luck friends pool their money and agree to equally split any profits at the end of 5 years. As the deadline approaches, they begin to get murdered, one by one. Trying to solve the crimes are straight-laced Inspector Philip Winton, his rather eccentric Scottish sidekick Police Sgt. 'Mac' McKay, and pesky, ambitious newspaper reporter Claire Haines. At one point, one of the friends involved in the "pact" is shot in front of 2 witnesses, yet a moment later, the body has disappeared.

If all this sounds familiar, it's because it's basically the SAME story filmed just 2 years earlier in America as "A STUDY IN SCARLET". So many people are busy complaining that film has nothing to do with Arthur Conan Doyle's 1st Sherlock Holmes novel that they completely miss that it's really an uncredited SWIPE of Belgian writer Stanislas-André Steeman's 1931 detective novel "Six Hommes Morts", which IS listed in the opening credits of THIS film.

Having seen the 1933 film with Reginald Owen at least 4 times and enjoying it more each time, I decided to go looking for the other versions. "RIVERSIDE" is a very nicely-done, compact, and at times amusing early English murder mystery. I haven't read the source novel yet (it's in French, I wonder if it's ever been published in English-- or, ONLINE?). But, if I had to guess, I'd say this version, which is quite streamlined compared to the "Sherlock Holmes" version, is probably more authentic to the book.

I found it amazing to watch 2 drastically-different adaptations of the same story, but be able to clearly recognize certain elements that appeared in both films. One example was the girl witnessing a murder, where the body disappears right after it happens. Another is learning about an underground tunnel that connects to the house. Funny enough, a similar tunnel appeared in the 1929 German "HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES", though I'm pretty sure it never appeared in Doyle's novel.

I was only familiar with 2 actors in this. Sgt. McKay was Alistair Sim, who's perhaps best known for what is generally considered the best version of "A CHRISTMAS CAROL" ever made. He also played police inspectors in several films, including a favorite of mine, "GREEN FOR DANGER", which was like a World War 2-era version of "CHINA BEACH". It's his face on the DVD box.

One of the group targetted for murder, the most level-headed of them, Henry Sanders, was played by actor Ian Fleming, who I've seen as Dr. John Watson in 3 of the 4 available Arthur Wontner SHERLOCK HOLMES films.

The hero, Inspector Philip Winton, was played by Basil Sydney. He reminded me a bit of Claude Rains, or Kenneth More. But, it turns out, I had seen in him in 3 other films-- IVANHOE (1952), AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956), and a real favorite of mine, THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE (1959), where he played "Lawyer Hawkins". I'll have to keep an eye out for him next time I watch that!

There are at least 2 more film adaptations of "Six Hommes Morts" (Six Dead Men), and I'm already planning to get the 3rd one very soon. After that, I may go looking for more films based on Stanislas-André Steeman's books.

People keep comparing this to Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", but note, the victims in that did not know each other, there was NO detective on the scene, and, that was published in 1939. (heh)