The Rogues Tavern

Dancing around the code a couple of Store detectives shop up at a tavern on a dark and stormy night looking for a justice of the peace to marry them. Unfortunately for them the Justice hasn't arrived but a hotel full of people have, as has a murderer.

This is a good is a tiny bit slow (Due more to lack of music than plotting)thriller. This is a movie that for a while operates like Ten Little Indians as several of the guests are killed by a wolf dog, or so we are to believe.

The mystery is thick and its not entirely fair however the dialog is snappy and a joy to listen to. There are sliding panels and weird happenings and everything you could want from an old dark house mystery.

No its not perfect but it is fun.

If you get the chance watch it, preferably on a dark and stormy night....when the wolves are howling outside....

Here we are again. In an old dark house (hotel, tavern, inn), where a group of jewel robbers are hiding out. A detective and his not-so-dumb blond fiancée show up to meet a justice of the peace. Meanwhile a murder is committed. A throat torn out, supposedly by a wolf-dog, who generally is tethered outside the tavern. There is a lot of byplay, with even an invalid man coming under suspicion. Others begin to get bumped off as well. People come and go. Suspicious characters and policemen and a cast of several investigate. Make sure you think of everyone as a suspect. There is pretty good humor and a little slapstick. The detective is so dense, it makes you wonder if he could find his hat in a closet. He doesn't listen to anyone, but at times seems pretty lucid. Anyway, there is nothing new or remarkable about this film, but it is fun and the conclusion is worth the wait.

A nice film for a dark and stormy night. If of course you are willing to squeeze and eye or two shut regarding some shortcomings.

The premises is simple- a young couple about to get married arrive at an isolated hotel. There they find various other people who for some reason or another have also gotten there just recently. One by one however people start getting killed and an almost wed detective takes up the case to solve the mystery before he too becomes a victim.

This is a classic mystery well suited for a dark and stormy evening or another similar occasion. There is mystery, there is horror and there are thrills and the concept of the film is excellent. However it is the dated execution that hinders this film from reaching the heights it could have reached. The acting is quite wooden and things that are supposed to be said secretly and discreetly are presented loud and with excellent articulation as if in a theater. The plot could have been a little better developed and have played more on the "whodunit" angle.

However if you are willing to overlook these shortcomings, then this is still a rather enjoyable film.

A honeymooning couple arrive at a tavern only to become embroiled in a series of murders involving a group of very suspicious guests. It seems as if the killings are being committed by a vicious dog.

Rogue's Tavern is yet another in the cycle of Poverty Row whodunits. There were an awful lot of these in the 30's. Like most of these films, this one involves events set exclusively in an old dark house. To be fair, this is one of the slightly better one's I have seen. Its mystery is reasonable enough; while it's climatic reveal scene was actually pretty good. For such a limited movie sub-genre you really have to make the most of any plus points. And at the very least this one more-or-less works and doesn't bog things down with much lame humour, which others seemed to do. All-in-all, not bad for this kind of thing.

As the other writer said, this is a "borderline Old House" film, but I feel that he under-rated it. The business about a "mad dog" doing all the killing is very unusual. Despite what he says, the "closeups of Joan Woodbury" are only done ONCE or TWICE. She is the "mystic" who is constantly predicting death to all present, and the closeups of her eyes are supposed to lend to the eeriness of the film. A VERY intersting film, if a bit melodramatic in parts! Check it out!

Norm