The Lady in Scarlet

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.