Murder at Midnight (1931)

Director:

Frank R. Strayer

Writers:

Scott Darling (dialogue)
Scott Darling (story)

Release Date:

1 September 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

Fingers of suspicion moving like the hands of a clock!

Plot:

Wealthy Mr. Kennedy shoots his secretary, Channing, during a parlor game, but it turns out the gun was loaded with real bullets...

Plot Keywords:

B Movie | Murder

Cast

Aileen Pringle	...	Esme Kennedy
Alice White	...	Millie Scripps
Hale Hamilton	...	Phillip Montrose
Robert Elliott	...	Inspector Taylor
Clara Blandick	...	Aunt Julia Gray Kennedy
Brandon Hurst	...	Lawrence
Leslie Fenton	...	Walter Grayson
William Humphrey	...	Colton
Tyrell Davis	...	The Englishman
Aileen Carlyle	...	Ella (as Aileen Carlisle)
Kenneth Thomson	...	Jim Kennedy
Robert Ellis	...	Duncan Channing

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Tiffany Productions

Quotes:

Detective Carter: [about the butler's body] Is he dead?
Inspector Taylor: No.... It's his day off.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Mystery of Mr. Wong (1939)

Interesting Mystery Story Makes Up For An Otherwise Routine Production

The mystery story in "Murder at Midnight" is an interesting one, with some good plot turns, plenty of suspects, and a competition between the police and some amateur sleuths to see who can solve the case first. The story is good enough to make up for the rest of the production, which is routine or somewhat weak in several other respects.

The story starts cleverly, with a murder committed in the course of a party game, and the scenario is well-written, maintaining the tension and interest all the way to the finale. There are clues and suspects in abundance, and most of the details fit together pretty well. As another reviewer has observed, it gives you a fair chance to figure things out yourself. If the rest of the production had been up to the level of the story, this might have been one of the classics of its era.

Some of its weaknesses are simply the common ones of the early 1930s: the irregular pacing and the distracting background, which unfortunately keep the script's rather snappy dialogue from working better. It also could have been improved if more attention had been given to the atmosphere, and with a somewhat stronger cast. The best performance comes from Clara Blandick as a cantankerous aunt, but the rest of the cast is mostly undistinguished, although Aileen Pringle and Alice White are both quite pleasant too look at.

Nevertheless, it's still well worth seeing, at least if you enjoy movies of its era, because the story really is a good one for its genre. With some improvements, it could have been quite good.