Le mystère de la chambre jaune

Gaston Leroux was one of the best writers of detective stories and his "yellow room" is an interesting case of murder in an enclosed place.

Unfortunately this movie was made at the beginning of the talkies and we can feel it.Huguette Duflos's playing seems histrionic and ludicrous today.On the other hand,Roland Toutain,who was to serve as a foil to romantic young leads (notably Jean -Pierre Aumont in "l'équipage" and "la porte du large" ) ,before playing a prominent part in Jean Renoir's "the rules of the games" at the end of the thirties,is perfectly cast as Rouletabille ,Leroux's equivalent of Poirot or Holmes.

Leroux's novel was a two-part story.The second part,"le parfum de la dame en noir" was filmed with the same cast the following year.It's more melodramatic ,and Rouletabille will learn a lot of things about his mysterious birth.

"Le Mystère De La Chambre Jaune" is undeniably a historically important film as one of the earliest French talkies, and what's more, one of the earliest talkie locked-room murder mysteries / old-dark-house thrillers / courtroom dramas. It is stilted, static, confusing (there are a lot of people to keep track of, and sometimes it's not clear who or why all those people are in a scene together), and technically rough-around-the edges, but it does boast an acrobatic amateur detective, a surprising resolution and occasionally creative use of sound (meow!). The film also begins and ends rather originally: at the start it verbally announces its credits, and at the end its own sequel. ** out of 4.