This is a 1930 RKO entry, and according to the records of a reputable Turner Classic Movies historian, it has never been aired on that channel. That is odd, because they should own it, and it was a complete surprise for me.
It is not stage bound as most early sound films were, and it is a most Hitchcockian and even feminist murder drama. I would say mystery, but there isn't one. The audience sees the whole thing from the start. The mystery is will anybody else catch on, and if so, how?
A group of people are having a holiday at wealthy Greg Sloane's (Hugh Trevor) mansion off the coast of Cuba. Mischa, a friend of Greg's, is having an affair with married Madeleine, which is rather dangerous since her husband, Tom (Lowell Sherman) is there also. Sally (Betty Compson) is Greg's fiancee and is also a writer of murder mysteries.
Mischa and Madeleine's indiscretion and the argument between Sally and Greg over him wanting her to stop writing these - what he considers to be silly and undignified - murder mysteries are key to an actual killing that takes place at the estate during the storm. It is all so cleverly done. After you see how the killer is caught, you'll probably have to do what I did and rewind to find the clues yourself.
Most of the players didn't make it past this very early talkie era, but fortunately the most talented of the lot - Betty Compson and Lowell Sherman - have prominent roles. Sherman was shaping up to be a pretty good director too when he died of pneumonia at only age 46.
It is not stage bound as most early sound films were, and it is a most Hitchcockian and even feminist murder drama. I would say mystery, but there isn't one. The audience sees the whole thing from the start. The mystery is will anybody else catch on, and if so, how?
A group of people are having a holiday at wealthy Greg Sloane's (Hugh Trevor) mansion off the coast of Cuba. Mischa, a friend of Greg's, is having an affair with married Madeleine, which is rather dangerous since her husband, Tom (Lowell Sherman) is there also. Sally (Betty Compson) is Greg's fiancee and is also a writer of murder mysteries.
Mischa and Madeleine's indiscretion and the argument between Sally and Greg over him wanting her to stop writing these - what he considers to be silly and undignified - murder mysteries are key to an actual killing that takes place at the estate during the storm. It is all so cleverly done. After you see how the killer is caught, you'll probably have to do what I did and rewind to find the clues yourself.
Most of the players didn't make it past this very early talkie era, but fortunately the most talented of the lot - Betty Compson and Lowell Sherman - have prominent roles. Sherman was shaping up to be a pretty good director too when he died of pneumonia at only age 46.