The Costello Case

An early-sound crime/mystery (I can't call this a "murder mystery" since it's not really a whodunit), THE COSTELLO CASE starts off slow, first with a virtually silent opening, and then with endless talk in one room about the killing of this Costello, about whom we never really learn very much. Just as you are wanting to turn it off, two minor characters are introduced, characters who at first seem clichéd, but we soon learn are POSING as clichéd characters. Then the film really takes off into territory the average viewer would NEVER expect, winding up with an amazing climax and resolution that is definitely pre-code and with some changes could have been in a 1970's Italian crime film. This film also features profanity in the dialogue (Hell and Damn), an unmarried couple living together, and an ending that the Hays office would have demanded be re-written. Tom Moore is fine as the dedicated and smarter-than-he-seems policeman Mahoney; Wheeler Oakman once again is cast well as an oily crook with a smarmy charm, and we also get to see him falling apart and begging for his life, which is always a treat (see THE MAN FROM GUNTOWN or ESCORT GIRL). And it's always a treat to see Lola Lane, who did a lot of convincing work in z-grade early-sound films, here as a woman once harassed by Oakman, but now having a second chance with a man fate brings her together with. Like many early-sound films, this plays like a stage drama, but I was riveted after a slow first fifteen minutes, and I think that any fan of independent films of the early 1930's should track down a copy of this rare film.

This poverty row crime drama is as visually static as most films made the year before, plus the dialogue could use some fleshing out. However, I'd still recommend it. As the other reviewer said, don't think that the first 10 minutes is a sample of how the rest of the film goes. It never really picks up in pace but it does get interesting with some fine twists and turns and good performances put in by all concerned whose acting transcends the pedestrian dialogue and, quite frankly, some pretty dopey moves made by both cops and criminals in this one. In fact, some of the silliness that goes on is part of the unintentional entertainment here.

The mystery centers around the murder of an undertaker and a missing fifty thousand dollars from his safe. The police captain then involves a young couple that seems puzzled as to why they have been picked up yet seem to be hiding something. You are then treated to one of the worst examples of police interrogation in the annals of film - "You killed him for the money and she was the look-out!" "You killed him for revenge and he was the look-out!" "You did it together"...I mean, come on, if you are going to get a confession out of a perp you at least need to make sure you don't change your story more often than the perp does! Great fun for early sound enthusiasts, for all others your mileage may vary.