The Menace

This is an early Colombia talkie directed by the underrated Roy William Neill. It is based on an Edgar Wallace novel, "The Feathered Serpent" and is another interesting adaptation of his work (see the 1938 "The Terror" and "Dark Eyes of London"). This curio has some nice horror overtones such as the statue of a feathered serpent and mummy cases that make up a creepy museum room in the house in which the action takes place. There is also a lead character disfigured and re-appearing after plastic surgery and the climax of the action takes place on Halloween night during a party in which even the band is heavily costumed. It may be the only horror movie of the thirties to boast a real Jack-o-Lantern also. As for plot, it starts with the hero of the film receiving plastic surgery and going back to his home to clear his name in the murder of his father and to bring justice to those who committed the crime. He returns as a stranger and the action ensues and everyone is suspected. The cast is very good, including a young Bette Davis and veterans like H.B. Warner and Halliwell Hobbes, always on hand in this type of film. Walter Byron is good as the disguised hero. All-in-all a fun little film with some nice atmospheric touches and a steady pace. Recommended to those who like this sort of thriller.

Englishman Walter Byron -- with nary a British accent -- is imprisoned for killing his father. He escapes, and is reputed to have died in a plane crash. In reality, he has fled to America, where he has made a fortune in the Oklahoma oil fields. A field fire sent him to a plastic surgeon, who gave him a new face. So he returns to the Old Manor to discover who really killed his father. He finds the place bankrupt and in possession of the Crown, his father's widow Natalie Moorhead hoping that the resulting sale will raise enough money to allow her to move to the south of France, and his ex-fiancee, Bette Davis, assisting the fellow representing the crown. Other noteworthy members of the cast include H. B. Warner, and Oscar Apfel.

It was a terrible copy I looked at, likely one drawn from a multi-generational copy of a SLP VHS tape. As a result, I could derived very little of its visual quality; the director, Roy William Neill, was among the better of the Columbia directors at this point, indulging in some of the visual glosses that would form the basis of film noir. However, given the fuzziness and distortion, who knows? Likewise, the cast seems to be trapped in one of those creaky, old British mysteries, with an isolated manor, comic characters, and everyone under suspicion except Miss Davis, lead Arthur Byron -- who seemed to be indistinguishable from Edmund Lowe given the quality of the picture -- and Halliwell Hobbes as the Old Faithful Retainer.

I looked at it, of course, because Bette Davis has a role in it. Given the dullness of the movie, I am unlikely to look at it again.

Except for "Seed" (1931), I've now seen every Bette Davis film she made until 1951. Last night I watched "The Menace" (1932) with Arthur Byron, H. B. Warner, Bette Davis, Natalie Moorhead, William B. Davidson, Crauford Kent, Halliwell Hobbes, and Charles K. Gerrard, along with a couple of other minor characters. The print was so bad that I still have eye strain this morning! The sound was so good I had to listen to it at "4" out of "100". But I watched it all the way through. This is a minor, very old fashioned murder mystery with Gerrard thrown in for comedy relief. The comedy is broad and over-the-top and wears itself out. Still, overall, this is a decent mystery, one we know how to solve from the beginning, but we watch the protagonist solve the mystery all by himself - this, after he's been accused of murdering his father, been put in prison, escaped from prison, been severely burned in an oil fire (a business where's he's made a fortune in the three years since he escaped!), had plastic surgery to the point no one recognizes him, gone back to England to the old mansion where the baddies are still encamped, etc., etc., etc. Fun to watch, or, more correctly, should have been. It was torturous watching the bad print, but I felt compelled enough by the pot boiling to get boiled. This mornin' I'm a hot daddy with eye strain.

Ronald Quayle was sent to prison for the murder of his father. However, like so many folks in Hollywood films, he didn't do it and was set up...presumably by his step-mother. Well, Quayle is able to escape from prison and soon is involved in an accident. He's burned badly and when a surgeon rebuilds his face, he gives the hospital a fake name...Robert Crockett. Now, with no fingerprints due to the fire and a different face, Robert returns to England to prove his step-mother killed his father.

While IMDB says this film was made in the States, I suspect like many films it was made by a British studio owned by Americans. Why would they do this? Well, a British law required a certain percentage of films shown in the country be made in the UK...and several American studios bought up studios in Britain to get around the law. I suspect it was made in the UK because one of the characters says he's from Oklahoma...and sounds British....very British.

I should mention that the print for this film on YouTube is very rough and I only watched it because I've nearly seen all of Bette Davis' movies...and she's in this one. Sadly, it was early in her career and she has a relatively bland and unimportant role as Crockett's girlfriend.

So is it any good? Well, since the story was taken from an Edgar Wallace film, you know the plot will most likely be very good...and murdery! Overall, a decent time-passer mystery film. Not brilliant but enjoyable.