The Intruder

The title refers to an ocean liner, on which a murder is committed in the opening moments. The ship soon sinks during the storm, but a bunch of survivors - including the killer - end up making it to a nearby jungle island, occupied by skeletons, a gorilla, and a crazed-looking primitive man (a hilarious Mischa Auer ("You Can't Take It with You")). Also in the lifeboat is a detective (William B. Davidson, "The Most Dangerous Game") determined to reveal the culprit.

Briskly paced and very, very brief (although it appears that this DVD trimmed about a dozen minutes from the run time indicated at IMDb), "The Intruder" is no great shakes, but it's all watchable enough, delivering some decent laughs and mild thrills. Top character actor Auer and Arthur Housman ("Manhandled"), who plays the oft-drunken Reggie, tend to steal the show, although I enjoyed how sassy the leading lady (Lila Lee, "The Unholy Three") was. Other familiar faces like Monte Blue ("Key Largo") and Harry Cording ("The Black Cat") provide additional value.

All in all, this is amusing enough to watch, albeit eminently forgettable. It kills the better part of an hour pretty painlessly.

Five out of 10.

Moving like the wind and possessing a devil make care attitude this film has everything including gaffes for sharp eyed viewers to find.

Where to start? The basic plot has a murder at sea occurring during a wicked storm that sinks the ship and strands many of the passengers on a deserted...almost deserted island. There is much much more to it than that, but if I tried to explain the French men, the skeletons, and the other twists you'd probably think I was nuts.

This movie just goes. From the moment it starts to the end this movie twists and turns in ways that most three hour epics could only dream about. For its sheer nuttiness and throw everything at the audience attitude this film must be seen because you'll never see another movie like it.

I love this movie because it seems so intent on telling its wild story and having you believe it even as you sit there in complete disbelief. On the fun scale its easily a nine simply because its a decently made piece of madness.

Things to watch out for: The boats off shore after the sinking The factory and houses down the beach from the filming locations There are more but I'll leave it to other sharp eyed viewers to spot them.

Intruder, The (1933)

** (out of 4)

Bland "old dark house" type mystery but this one here takes place on a deserted island. The film starts off on a cruise ship where a man is murdered but before the killer can be located, the ship sinks with the survivors ending up on a strange island, which appears to be the home of a killer gorilla and a strange caveman. This is a pretty bizarre little film but the screenplay is so weak and so full of holes that I couldn't help but grow rather tired, which isn't good considering the movie runs just 57-minutes. The biggest problem is the story that seems to go in and out of focus as the movie never seems to really pay much attention to the actual mystery going on. Not only do we have the mystery but quite often it takes a back seat to various comedy attempts via a drunk, fighting characters and the strange Tarzan-like creature who keeps yelling throughout the film. The gorilla shows up in a couple scenes and to be honest, I'm still not really sure what he was up to. The inside of the cave with the two skeletons was pretty funny but in the end there's just not enough to keep this thing going. The performances are decent but nothing great. Griffith fans might be interested in checking out Wilfred Lucas in his small role here.

Mere minutes have passed and the film already makes an impression of being both very direct (dialogue, plot development, scene writing, pacing), and very unbothered about itself, with acting, delivery, and direction that doesn't do well in trying to convey the import of what's going on. This feat of duality is almost impressive since the narrative begins with a murder and the sinking of a passenger cruise. Whether one wishes to assume deficiencies of the production, or prints that had degraded before digital preservation, such sensibilities aren't aided by muddled sound design and less than pristine image quality. Setting these matters aside, the scene writing, dialogue, and plot development are also decidedly unconvincing even on paper, with ideas being introduced as weakly as they possibly could be. Before even one-third of the runtime has elapsed we're already greeted with a few different moments that can only inspire quizzical skepticism, to the point that the storytelling in and of itself struggles to attain basic suspension of disbelief. Sadly, the picture never improves: 1933's 'The intruder' is a dud that sunk as surely and quickly as its ship.

Languid, passive, flimsy, half-hearted, dubious, middling, and soporific, nothing of significance comes off well in this feature. Frances Hyland's writing, Albert Ray's direction, and the acting of all are downright floundering, if not altogether bewildering. I can't tell if this is intended to be a comedy or a drama, but it doesn't matter, because it's terrible on both counts. In fairness, the crew behind the scenes did good work, on the sets in particular. The most commendable aspect of the entire movie might be the editing, with some transitions that seem advanced for 1933 - "might" is the key word, however, for the novelty is overused. Meanwhile, there comes a time when the plot becomes rather scattered and unfocused, and I wonder if even those involved knew what was going on. Characters are so poorly written, bereft of substance, that 'The intruder' may as well have been a radio play instead of a film. Best of all, however, is that the vast majority of this picture, gawky and flailing as it is, is pointlessly extraneous: within the first five minutes, we can also easily guess the reveal of the killer at the end.

Some of the best movies ever made hail from the 1920s or 30s, but 'The intruder' is apt demonstration that age is no guarantee of value, for this stinks to high heaven from the very start to the very end. I can safely say that I have seen worse pictures, though at this level, the distinction is meaningless. That the thin plot is so feebly crafted, plumbing the deepest depths, serves to distract from other rickety elements of the production, but that is absolutely no compliment. What else to say? You don't need to watch this. No one does.

This film starts with a murder aboard a steamboat that already contains a detective who immediately goes to work investigating. He starts by gathering all the suspects when the ship gets in trouble in a bad storm. Forced to evacuate, all the suspects are loaded into the last lifeboat with the captain, first mate and detective. They end up castaway on a tropical island together with a gorilla and a strange Tarzan-like character...complete with his "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaa" call. The murder victim stole precious diamonds and the detective thinks the murder is after them. The two women, Connie and Daisy, have a gorgeous wardrobe that seems to survive their ordeal...satin (or silk) and furs...not to mention their jewelry. The mystery gets solved and they get rescued by a French ship...but not before there is some unusual comedy by a drunken brother and a skeleton.

I think this is a fun historical number...but not the most interesting of mysteries and frankly I had a little trouble keeping the suspects straight. Not on my recommendation list unless you just want some light entertainment.