Watched "The Roadhouse Murder" (1932) with Eric Linden, Dorothy Jordan, Purnell Pratt, Roscoe Ates, Roscoe Karns, David Landau, Bruce Cabot, Phyllis Clare, Gustav von Seyffertitz, and others. Good little thriller that is beyond the bounds of credulity, but as a piece of watchable entertainment is a great way to kill 73 minutes. Linden works for a newspaper, and when he discovers a murder, he takes the blame to catch the real murderer. Right. Who's gonna do that?? No one. Yet this plays. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Looking at the cast, you can guess who the baddie is by the date the film was made. No, it's not Seyffertitz. This was recently released by Warner Archive Collection. Linden can be on or off for me, the viewer. Here he was on. My wife thought he looked as if he were 12. I'd have put him at least at 17. Nevertheless, he was actually 23, and he was playing a character at least that age or more. Dorothy Jordan, first in the cast line-up, has a nice part, but it could have been more incisive line-wise yet added-to dimension-wise. The writing's good, but not great. Directed by J. Walter Ruben. These RKO Radio Picture films like this one were a dime a dozen in the early 30's, and though the plots are over the top, they're fun watching even now. At least I think so.
Review of The Roadhouse Murder
