User reviews

Who killed Albert J. Sayre? Another witty gem from Chesterfield. The dialog between sleuth Reginald Denny and his "secretary" Patricia Farr (who died at age 35) is every bit as good as that between Nick and Nora Charles in "The Thin Man" series. They certainly have an interesting relationship. Unfortunately, Ms Farr looks nothing like Myrna Loy. Sayre's daughter, Julia, however, is played by the very beautiful Dorothy Revier. Lew Kelly does his slightly dimwitted slow burn as Police Inspector Trainey. There are plenty of suspects. It's a well-kept secret who done it right up to the end. You'll just have to guess.

Pretty decent presentation of a man who sets up his daughter for failure and poverty because he doesn't like her choice in men. Unfortunately, he meets his demise and that launches most of the plot. A couple of Nick and Nora type detectives get into the act at the behest of the young wife of the man. It turns out she really loves the old jerk and wants to see justice done. Many are dragged into the fray, but, of course, the facts will set you free. This is a fun movie because of the byplay between the two private detectives. There are lots of conflicting clues and some surprises. I have seen many of these types of films and have to admit that this one isn't half bad. It has a little bit of sexual tension which works pretty well.

Reginald Denny stars a a detective who gets involved with the murder of an antique dealer.

For the most part this is a by the book murder mystery with several interesting twists in it. The plot basically is that a wealthy antique dealer is suspicious that his wife is having an affair. People are watching the house and the husband appears to be involved in crooked dealings. The wife while out with her lover notices an old friend and semi famous detective at the bar. The lover leaves and the wife talks to the detective whom she talks into taking her home. Once there they find the husband dead and a very twisty, and not entirely fair, murder investigation is set in motion.

Denny is as always a joy to behold and his interplay with his girl Friday is funny, if not rather cruel. Frankly if it wasn't clear they loved each other it would be abusive.

A friend watched most of this with me and sat there in disbelief at the creakiness of it and of the bad acting. But this is an independent programmer that was made fast and cheap so that fact it is of any quality is usually a plus. Its not as bad as she made it out to be, and I don't think she hated it, she just enjoyed the camp value of it all.

I liked it, but I didn't love it. Its a movie that sort of is unexceptional in anyway, and so just sort of is. Its a pleasant time killer and nothing more. In answer to Lucy's question, yes at some point I will watch this again, if only to see what I missed plot wise since the clues appear to all be there even if not clearly....

"The Lady In Scarlet" is a good murder mystery with a good plot and a good star turn by Reginald Denny as the detective/ hero. As expected, it is a bit dated but engrossing nonetheless. It was written better than interpreted by the actors and it suffers from several lapses into amateur acting. Apparently the budget was so tight that second takes were in short supply, and it needed a few.

Enjoyed the interplay between Denny and his secretary, Patricia Farr. As several contributors have noted, it bears a strong resemblance to that of Nick and Nora Charles, only not as witty. Special mention should be made of Jack Adair, who plays a crooked art dealer. I have awarded him the Hand-Painted Mustache Cup for the Worst Performance By A Supporting Actor In A Poverty Row Movie. It has to be seen to be believed - breathtakingly bad by any measure, and ruins every scene he is in.

Good story, and in only 65 minutes. It will keep you guessing right up to the end. It makes you think a bigger studio could have done wonders with material such as this. And hired some better actors.

During the 1930s and 40s, the quality as well as cheapo studios made zillions of murder mystery films--so many that it's easy to get them all mixed up in your head. While some of the films were stand-outs, such as the Charlie Chan or Saint films, too many just weren't made very well or offered nothing but retreads of the same old same old characters and stories. In many ways, "The Lady in Scarlett" is yet another dreary mystery films--with the usual get 'em all together in a room and get one of them to incriminate him/herself at the end of the film finale. These were ludicrous but so many of the films followed this same sort of formula. In most ways, this film did too...but fortunately, it did offer two things to set it apart--Reginald Denny's erudite persona and his assistant, who was anything but! In fact, she was a complete smart aleck and kept me interested in an otherwise passable film. Well worth seeing just because of her!

Universal was the only major Hollywood studio to have regular dealings with Poverty Row, so it comes as something of a surprise to see a 20th Century-Fox package wrapped up in the mantle of Chesterfield producer, George R. Batcheller. Admittedly, by Mr Batcheller's extremely sparse expenditure norms, the budget for this one is somewhat superior, but nonetheless the witty script by Fox's ace writing team of Robert Ellis and Helen Logan is not all that well served by plodding Reginald Denny (at least he plays the role straight) as the egomaniac detective and most of the second-string support players. Thomas, Bush, Murray and Kelly are especially dull in key roles, but fortunately the girls are okay. In fact, Patricia Farr (part of the Fox package) is quite winning as the put-upon secretary (even though she is forced to wear the same drab outfit throughout the entire movie). As for the solution of the mystery, this is a bit of a let-down, although it will come as no surprise to most fans. The real killer is Charles Lamont's scrupulously unexciting direction.

For the genre and the time, this is a pretty good murder mystery. Other reviewers have noted the similarity to the Thin Man Nick and Nora roles. I found the couple in this movie to be many rungs down on the ladder from Nick and Nora. The couple are husband and wife, and she's not a detective - she's his secretary. Unfortunately, the faux battling between the couple is less than playful to modern eyes - he shoves her from behind, taps her drink into her face, takes a slap at her body, and constantly refers to her in explicitly belittling terms. Yes, we're supposed to understand that it's 'banter,' but the writing took it to far - unlike the Thin Man, which is always played in an obviously affectionate manner. Here, the last words out of his mouth are "Come on, stupid." Not nice at all.

Having said that, the movie works fairly well. The detective is smarter than the police inspector, but the inspector is not a clown - he's just one acceptable step behind. The wife/sidekick is given some stilted lines - they just didn't get the Nora Charles role right here. There are multiple suspects, and attractive women. For fans of the genre, it's definitely worth watching, though you may cringe at some of the husband's 'playfulness,' as I did. There's a fine line between playful and cruel, evidently.

From 1935, The Lady in Scarlett stars Reginald Denny, Patricia Farr, and Dorothy Revier, directed by Charles Lamont.

The wife (Revier) of wealthy art dealer, Albert J. Sayre (John T. Murray) runs into a detective friend (Denny) and his assistant (Farr) at a restaurant. He drives her home, and they find her husband dead.

Sayre's daughter Alice (Claudia Dell) claims her father disinherited her and is sure her stepmother killed him for the money. It's revealed that the new will wasn't signed, and the assets are to be split.

However, the attorney warns Alice that her father had heavy losses in the stock market. Alice says there were bonds worth 100,000 put aside for her in the safe. When the safe is opened, however, there are no bonds. Alice insists her stepmother stole them.

Decent whodunit with very uneven acting. This film had nice potential for a series starring Denny and Farr, who had both fun repartee and some dialogue that really pushed the humor too much and in a few cases, was demeaning.

Farr was a good comedienne who died at 35 from pancreatic cancer. Toned down by a director, it's easy to see she would have been very good.

Denny is delightful, elegant, smooth, and amusing. It's a shame he didn't have more opportunities in this type of role.

John T. Murray is a collector and dealer in antiquities. He also has a disinherited son, a daughter he has just ordered his lawyers to disinherit, and a young wife in Dorothy Revier. So when she asks private detective Reginald Denny and his secretary Patricia Farr to come home, it is the three of them who discover Murray murdered.

It's a fairly drawn locked-room mystery, and some good chemistry btween Denny's off-handed PI and Miss Farr, even if her snappy lines often lack much snap. Director Charles Lamont knows how to keep a Poverty Row mystery like this one moving along, and a supporting cast that includes Claudia Dell and Lew Kelly is always worth seeing. The real mystery is the murdered man's address: 8 East 51st Street, which is Saks Fifth Avenue!

I always enjoy a male/female investigating partnership in mysteries where there is sniping between the two. But all the time you are aware there is an honest affection lying beneath the continual bickering. Oliver Keith and Ella Carey are two such investigators played by Reginald Denny with his English tone and Patricia Farr in her wise-cracking American style. Reginald Denny plays Keith so nonchalant humming to himself while investigating a dead body while Patricia Farr delivers her sarcastic snipes so deadpan. A lot of the remainder of the cast are weak so it's up to the two leads to keep the dialog convincing.

Oliver Keith is initially retained by a friend from the past about a strange man snooping outside her property. Julia Sayre is concerned that her husband Albert is involved in something which is behind the spying. In the meantime she seems to have been on an assignation with the family doctor at the Carlton Bar where she meets up with Keith after her doctor friend has left the establishment. Soon Keith is involved in a murder inquiry when Albert Sayre is found dead strangely with a knife driven through his right hand just before or after the murder. Inspector Trainey of the police puts great emphasis on the symbolic meaning of the knife being driven through the back of the victim's hand.

The plot includes the selling of fake antiques and a disputed will and step mother/step daughter squabbling. The suspects all have plausible motives and all are kept at the forefront of Keith's investigations. One suspect drops out because they are murdered with a cigarette end planted between two of the victim's fingers. I didn't detect the murderer myself so I will say this is a reasonably thought-provoking whodunit from Chesterfield Studios.

Reginald Denny is on good form in this rather formulaic whodunnit as "Oliver Keith" - an accomplished PI drafted in to investigate the killing of a wealthy art dealer. Once on the case, he discovers there is a lot more to the case than just the fatality - and there are no lack of suspects mired in this tale of greed and ambition. What helps this along nicely is the engaging double-play between Denny and his equally competent, if somewhat undervalued, assistant "Ella" (Patricia Farr) and Lew Kelly is quite good as the pretty hapless policeman. Only an hour long, but still a decently paced nostalgic look at crime fighting in days when everyone wore a hat and called themselves Mr. & Miss.