The Spider

The Spider begins with a magician's show. The great Chartrand (Edmund Lowe) can make people disappear and his assistant dazzles the crowd with his psychic abilities. A woman and her uncle come to the show looking for their long lost relative; in fact, the assistant is the woman's brother, but his amnesia has kept him from finding her. Suddenly during the performance, the lights go out and a shot is fired. The woman's uncle has been murdered, and it is up to Chartrand to find the killer among the audience.

El Brendel and Kendall McComas (of Our Gang fame) provide a few laughs as mischievous members of the audience. The story is predominantly serious and features some interesting ghoulish effects. Overall, though, the story is pretty standard and the film is mediocre, but enjoyable.

During the 1930s, murder mysteries were a dime a dozen in Hollywood. Apart from westerns, I honestly think they made more murder films than anything else! So, when I tell you that "The Spider" is a murder film, don't immediately assume it's just like all the rest!!

The setting for the crime is a theater. Chartrand (Edmund Lowe) is a stage magician whose tricks are huge, spectacular and real crowd pleasers. During one of his performances, something strange happens. Chartrand's assistant, who has amnesia, sees someone in the audience he recognizes. At that moment, the lights go off and shots ring out. The assistant's mean uncle is now lying dead on the floor...and none of the many folks in the theater saw much of anything. Unfortunately, the police investigating seem to be like MOST cops in these mysteries...they're idiots who keep jumping to conclusions. And you know the cops are a mess when Warren Hymer plays one of them!! So, it's up to Chartrand to try to help the police figure out who really is behind the murder.

The best thing about the film is the wonderful sets and style...they are wild and breathtaking. The second best thing is Edmund Lowe, who is excellent as usual. What isn't so wonderful are some of the supporting characters who mostly are unncessary and were apparently added for comic relief. The worst is El Brendel...who usually is very annoying. Also, all the psychic mumbo jumbo wears thin after a while. While Chartrand is obviously supposed to be a great magician, at times he seems to have god-like powers...which is pretty silly. Overall, a mixed bag that at least has the distinction of being unusual and it will definitely keep your attention.

By the way, one silly cliche in this one is one I've seen too many times. The magic show, which is almost completely a visual medium, is at one point being broadcast over the radio!! As silly as this sounds, it could be worse--I've seen film supposedly having them broadcast dancing and dancing lessons on the radio! Huh???!!!!

"The Spider" began in a mysterious manner, but the mystery was the origins of a young man part of a magic show named Alexander (Howard Phillips). He worked in a show headlined by Chatrand the Great (Edmund Lowe), and Chatrand was earnestly trying to find Alexander's people. It merged into a murder mystery when a man, who seemed to know Alexander, was murdered at one of Chatrand's shows.

Alexander became the main suspect for police inspector Riley (Purnell Pratt), and Chatrand would have to act fast and decisively if he was going to clear Alexander, who had just been reunited with his sister, Beverly (Lois Moran), during that same show.

"The Spider" took murder mystery solving to the extreme. Usually a murder will occur in a place with no more than ten suspects; "The Spider" had several hundred suspects and none were allowed to leave the auditorium until the investigation was completed.

"The Spider" used a method that had been tried in other movies for crime solving: Chatrand used Alexander to read minds, which was similar to using a medium. How else could they find the killer among hundreds of potential perpetrators?

"The Spider" was entertaining enough. It borrowed a little bit from "Murder at the Vanities" in which a murder had been committed during a Broadway production and the police were trying to solve it before the production ended. It does add a bit of excitement and suspense to the movie. I liked "The Spider" even if it was not as intelligent as other murder mysteries.

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This was co-directed by the great set designer William Cameron Menzies, who had a fantastic, if erratic career. In the early 1930s he made a trio of magic-themed thrillers for Fox, this being the first, the next being the superior Chandu the Magician and the third being Trick for Trick, directed by Hamilton McFadden.

The Spider is a decent film that basically involves a murder by gunshot in a theater of patrons watching a magic act performed by Chartrand the Great, played by a solid Edmond Lowe. How someone sitting next to the murderer would not notice the gun going off is implausibly absurd, to say the least. It would be forgivable if there was a plot. It involves a woman who goes to a magic show to see if her missing brother is Chartrand's amnesiac assistant, whom he is. Her hateful uncle, who previously tried to do away with the brother is the man who is murdered. Her brother, naturally, is the prime suspect.

The suspense is missing, but the style is excellent. Much low-key lighting and some terrific magic act sets make this worthwhile. It does pale in comparison to similar thrillers of the period as the mystery is so random and thin that it really brings the film down. Worth the time, though, of any 30s mystery film aficionados.

These film reviews are supposed to have a synopsis of the plot but for some reason this one has a complete scene-by-scene breakdown which give away the whole dramatic narrative. It's a fun crime thriller and well worth watching with stand-out performances from the lead, Edmund Lowe, heralding his potential as a tragicomic actor and as an introduction to the great character actress Ruth. Donnelly. Very much in the spirit of 1930s, the plot would have resonated with both audiences, real and imagined, as a blend of mysticism (born of WW1 deaths) and poverty (born of the Depression.) so why spoil it ?