Murder by the Clock (1931)

An elderly woman installs a horn in her crypt in case she's buried alive.

Director:

Edward Sloman

Writers:

Charles Beahan (play), Rufus King (story),

Stars:

William 'Stage' Boyd, Lilyan Tashman, Irving Pichel

Cast

Cast overview:
William 'Stage' Boyd	...	Lt. Valcour
Lilyan Tashman	...	Laura Endicott
Irving Pichel	...	Philip Endicott
Regis Toomey	...	Officer Cassidy
Sally O'Neil	...	Jane, a Maid
Blanche Friderici	...	Julia Endicott
Walter McGrail	...	Herbert Endicott
Lester Vail	...	Thomas Hollander
Martha Mattox	...	Miss Roberts
Frank Sheridan	...	Chief of Police
Guy Oliver	...	Watchman
Frederick Sullivan	...	Medical Examiner
Charles D. Brown	...	Officer O'Brien
Lenita Lane	...	Nurse

Storyline

An elderly woman installs a horn in her crypt in case she's buried alive.

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Plot Keywords:

based on play

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 July 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rædslernes Hus

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

User Reviews

Blonde Lilyan Tashman is a black widow...

... in this thriller that combines the atmosphere of the Universal horror films of the 1930's with the feel of the sophisticated precodes of Paramount. This is a rare chance to see Lilyan Tashman in a leading role, and she is spot on as a woman who wants wealth and comfort by any means possible and sees her ability to manipulate men to do her bidding as key to her plan.

Our story opens as does the film Frankenstein from this same year - 1931 - in a foggy graveyard with a group of mourners gathered around a grave. Into the scene strolls old Mrs. Endicott with her maid and son to visit the family crypt. However, honoring the dead is not her purpose, instead she is there to insure that her own crypt is in working order. Mrs. Endicott has a fear of being buried alive and has a creepy sounding horn installed in her own vault so that if she is erroneously interred she can sound the alarm and be rescued. Thus she likes to try it out from time to time to see if it still works.

The Endicotts are apparently a family whose tree has deep and wealthy roots but withering leaves. There are only two possible heirs to the Endicott fortune in that tree - Mrs. Endicott's brutish idiot son Philip and her alcoholic weakling of a nephew, Herbert. Philip has made it clear that his highest goal in life is to kill people with his bare hands, so Mrs. Endicott leaves her fortune to her nephew. Philip has enough IQ points to know he's been supplanted and is upset about the situation, and Herbert is happy because now he hopes his wife Laura (Lilyan Tashman) will stop nagging him about money now that she can know her future is secure.

The night that the new will is drawn up and signed Mrs. Endicott is strangled to death. Soon after the funeral, Herbert and Laura take up residence in the Endicott ancestral home, Herbert is strangled as well. Shortly after that the alarm from Mrs. Endicott's tomb rings out. What's going on here? Watch and find out. There are secret passages, shadowy figures in the fog, and best of all Ms. Tashman, making Jezebel look like Betty Crocker. William Stage Boyd plays police lieutenant Valcour who is trying to get to the bottom of all of this. Will he succumb to Lilyan's poisonous poise, or will he solve the crime? Remember that this is the precode era and unjust outcomes were allowed and did occur in American film during this time.

I highly recommend this one for anybody who likes the old dark house films of the 30's.