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Monogram cheapie about the theft of the titular diamond during a dark and stormy night in an old dark house. A very familiar setting, even more so for the period in which this film came out. It's based on a creaky 19th century novel by Wilkie Collins. David Manners stars, playing one of the many drab parts he played during a short career that left a stronger legacy than his talent warranted. Elspeth Dudgeon of "The Old Dark House" and "Sh! The Octopus" fame is the closest thing the film has to a scene stealer, playing a feisty old housekeeper. The rest of the cast is full of familiar if unremarkable character actors. This is not an exciting movie. It plods along slowly throughout its thankfully short runtime. Still, it's an inoffensive use of an hour that will keep the kids out of the streets.

Universal adaptation of Charles Dickens' unfinished novel. It's not a horror film but Universal usually lumps it in with them. It does feature some actors from their horror pictures as well as some of the same ambience. Claude Rains stars and he's terrific as always. Great turn from Zeffie Tilbury as the crazy lady running the opium den. Douglass Montgomery's brownface makeup is distracting. I'm also not sure why he's made up that way while his character's sister (Valerie Hobson in a largely pointless role) is not. Perhaps to make the later plot twist less obvious. If that was the case, I doubt it worked on anyone. All in all, this is a decent picture that fans of Rains or the period's horror thrillers should enjoy. I'm surprised no one thought to throw in a guy in a gorilla costume, though.

Documentary program about real-life disasters and tragedies. I'm not sure of the backstory for this. It has all the markings of a pilot for a TV series that never happened. It's hosted by husband and wife Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland, both ill-suited for the job. Bronson appears most, and even narrates and interviews survivors of the various events discussed. Ireland reads her cue cards like she's an unwilling hostage. Bronson is, of course, a legendary actor but here he's just unassuming and quiet and lacking the kind of outgoing personality and energy one typically expects from a host. The most obvious comparison for this show is In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy, which shares the same production company as this. The use of narration over stock footage and synthy musical choices are similar to that series, but this fails to match that show in atmosphere or quality. It's not even sensational or ghoulish as later shows about real tragedies would be. This is a curiosity piece at best for fans of Bronson or history buffs who might be interested in the interviews.