Maybe it was in part because I didn't see a good print of this movie that I found it so draggy. But maybe also it was that the plot is overly convoluted with so many characters flitting about that it was hard to keep track of them all. And way too many of the scenes are in the dark with just a flashlight or low output lamps shedding any light. Old dark house mystery indeed. After Mark Clayton (Ian Flemming) is murdered, the search is on for the East Indian jewels he has hidden in the house. Assault after assault occurs - that house is a dangerous place to be. Basil Sydney and Molly Lamont did a nice job in their roles but unless one is a big fan of 1930s or Dark House type mysteries, there's not a lot to recommend about this movie. Watchable but soon forgettable.
4 Reviews
Clueless
malcolmgsw29 September 2012
Warning: Spoilers
This is a quota quickie that was made at Fox's British studios at Wembley. As with many such films it is set in an old country house with crooks all over the place wanting to get their hands on the loot.the problem with this film is that it is over complicated and over plotted. I have to say that i rather lost track after about 20 minutes when the son returning home to get his inheritance is sent flying overboard ship to his doom. He had on him some important papers but i am not clear as to their significance. I initially thought that Sydney was a journalist but it turns out he is the chief villain. He goes to the house in a disguise and a voice that would fool no one. There are so many people in the old house that you lose track of just who is who. It has a certain endearing quality as you try to work out exactly what is going on.
This movie puts the "Guff" in "McGuffin"
Rosabel31 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Not a bad movie, a little derivative of Wilkie Collins's 'The Moonstone', with its tale of Indian jewels taken from an idol, and pursued by sinister Hindu priests out to recover them.
As other reviewers have pointed out, so much of it takes place in the dark, it's difficult to clearly see what is going on. There are multiple secret passages and sliding panels leading to an underground crypt containing (I suppose) the treasure. Despite 3 separate forays through the bookcase, behind the wall and down the steps into this hidden lair, there is never a payoff. The trail always ends at a massive iron chest that nobody can move or open. We assume the Indian jewels are inside, but we never actually see them.
This makes the jewels the most McGuffiny of McGuffins - they're the object of everyone's search, the motive for all the activity in the movie, but they matter so little the movie ends before anyone actually finds them! Until the very end, I thought the movie was going to pull a switch and have the chest turn out to be empty, the jewels having been stolen long ago, but it just ends with all the bad guys dead and the young lovers reunited.
As other reviewers have pointed out, so much of it takes place in the dark, it's difficult to clearly see what is going on. There are multiple secret passages and sliding panels leading to an underground crypt containing (I suppose) the treasure. Despite 3 separate forays through the bookcase, behind the wall and down the steps into this hidden lair, there is never a payoff. The trail always ends at a massive iron chest that nobody can move or open. We assume the Indian jewels are inside, but we never actually see them.
This makes the jewels the most McGuffiny of McGuffins - they're the object of everyone's search, the motive for all the activity in the movie, but they matter so little the movie ends before anyone actually finds them! Until the very end, I thought the movie was going to pull a switch and have the chest turn out to be empty, the jewels having been stolen long ago, but it just ends with all the bad guys dead and the young lovers reunited.
Vintage British Mystery
nova-6330 March 2010
The film opens at the vast estate of Mark Clayton (Ian Fleming), where he is being held captive by a group of East Indian bandits. They claim that the jewels in Clayton's possession belong to their country and they want Clayton to turn them over to them. Since the bandits have already murdered his wife, Clayton is not willing to play their game. The decision costs Clayton his life. With his dying breath he asks his brother, Rupert, to give the jewels to his son. Rupert vows to do so.
But there is a problem at hand for Rupert. His dead brother hid the jewels somewhere on the vast estate and no one knows where they are located. Mark gave Rupert a clue to their whereabouts, but the clue only puzzles him. Enter Reinhardt Conway (Basil Sydney), who is secretly working for the East Indian bandits. Conway's plan is to infiltrate the estate under some disguise and search for the jewels himself.
I love these old British mysteries. This film is not a masterpiece by any stretch but it is entertaining and with a run time of 72 minutes it is longer than many of the Quota pictures from this period. If you are a fan of films like, Riverside Murder (1935); Inside the Room (1935); Late Extra (1935), then you will surely enjoy this.
But there is a problem at hand for Rupert. His dead brother hid the jewels somewhere on the vast estate and no one knows where they are located. Mark gave Rupert a clue to their whereabouts, but the clue only puzzles him. Enter Reinhardt Conway (Basil Sydney), who is secretly working for the East Indian bandits. Conway's plan is to infiltrate the estate under some disguise and search for the jewels himself.
I love these old British mysteries. This film is not a masterpiece by any stretch but it is entertaining and with a run time of 72 minutes it is longer than many of the Quota pictures from this period. If you are a fan of films like, Riverside Murder (1935); Inside the Room (1935); Late Extra (1935), then you will surely enjoy this.
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