The Lady in Scarlet (1935) User Reviews

Witty little who-done-it

[pdutram · 7/10 · 17 September 2006]

Who killed Albert J. Sayre? Another witty gem from Chesterfield. The dialog between sleuth Reginald Denny and his "secretary" Patricia Farr (who died at age 35) is every bit as good as that between Nick and Nora Charles in "The Thin Man" series. They certainly have an interesting relationship. Unfortunately, Ms Farr looks nothing like Myrna Loy. Sayre's daughter, Julia, however, is played by the very beautiful Dorothy Revier. Lew Kelly does his slightly dimwitted slow burn as Police Inspector Trainey. There are plenty of suspects. It's a well-kept secret who done it right up to the end. You'll just have to guess.

Hell Hath no Fury

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 25 October 2007]

Pretty decent presentation of a man who sets up his daughter for failure and poverty because he doesn't like her choice in men. Unfortunately, he meets his demise and that launches most of the plot. A couple of Nick and Nora type detectives get into the act at the behest of the young wife of the man. It turns out she really loves the old jerk and wants to see justice done. Many are dragged into the fray, but, of course, the facts will set you free. This is a fun movie because of the byplay between the two private detectives. There are lots of conflicting clues and some surprises. I have seen many of these types of films and have to admit that this one isn't half bad. It has a little bit of sexual tension which works pretty well.

Reginald Denny plays detective in a good mystery

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 19 January 2008]

Reginald Denny stars a a detective who gets involved with the murder of an antique dealer.

For the most part this is a by the book murder mystery with several interesting twists in it. The plot basically is that a wealthy antique dealer is suspicious that his wife is having an affair. People are watching the house and the husband appears to be involved in crooked dealings. The wife while out with her lover notices an old friend and semi famous detective at the bar. The lover leaves and the wife talks to the detective whom she talks into taking her home. Once there they find the husband dead and a very twisty, and not entirely fair, murder investigation is set in motion.

Denny is as always a joy to behold and his interplay with his girl Friday is funny, if not rather cruel. Frankly if it wasn't clear they loved each other it would be abusive.

A friend watched most of this with me and sat there in disbelief at the creakiness of it and of the bad acting. But this is an independent programmer that was made fast and cheap so that fact it is of any quality is usually a plus. Its not as bad as she made it out to be, and I don't think she hated it, she just enjoyed the camp value of it all.

I liked it, but I didn't love it. Its a movie that sort of is unexceptional in anyway, and so just sort of is. Its a pleasant time killer and nothing more. In answer to Lucy's question, yes at some point I will watch this again, if only to see what I missed plot wise since the clues appear to all be there even if not clearly....

Good Mystery From Poverty Row

[GManfred · 12 January 2011]

"The Lady In Scarlet" is a good murder mystery with a good plot and a good star turn by Reginald Denny as the detective/ hero. As expected, it is a bit dated but engrossing nonetheless. It was written better than interpreted by the actors and it suffers from several lapses into amateur acting. Apparently the budget was so tight that second takes were in short supply, and it needed a few.

Enjoyed the interplay between Denny and his secretary, Patricia Farr. As several contributors have noted, it bears a strong resemblance to that of Nick and Nora Charles, only not as witty. Special mention should be made of Jack Adair, who plays a crooked art dealer. I have awarded him the Hand-Painted Mustache Cup for the Worst Performance By A Supporting Actor In A Poverty Row Movie. It has to be seen to be believed - breathtakingly bad by any measure, and ruins every scene he is in.

Good story, and in only 65 minutes. It will keep you guessing right up to the end. It makes you think a bigger studio could have done wonders with material such as this. And hired some better actors.

Fox Takes a Fling on Poverty Row

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 14 June 2008]

Universal was the only major Hollywood studio to have regular dealings with Poverty Row, so it comes as something of a surprise to see a 20th Century-Fox package wrapped up in the mantle of Chesterfield producer, George R. Batcheller. Admittedly, by Mr Batcheller's extremely sparse expenditure norms, the budget for this one is somewhat superior, but nonetheless the witty script by Fox's ace writing team of Robert Ellis and Helen Logan is not all that well served by plodding Reginald Denny (at least he plays the role straight) as the egomaniac detective and most of the second-string support players. Thomas, Bush, Murray and Kelly are especially dull in key roles, but fortunately the girls are okay. In fact, Patricia Farr (part of the Fox package) is quite winning as the put-upon secretary (even though she is forced to wear the same drab outfit throughout the entire movie). As for the solution of the mystery, this is a bit of a let-down, although it will come as no surprise to most fans. The real killer is Charles Lamont's scrupulously unexciting direction.

About average but I did really like Oliver Keith's assistant

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 11 January 2016]

During the 1930s and 40s, the quality as well as cheapo studios made zillions of murder mystery films--so many that it's easy to get them all mixed up in your head. While some of the films were stand-outs, such as the Charlie Chan or Saint films, too many just weren't made very well or offered nothing but retreads of the same old same old characters and stories. In many ways, "The Lady in Scarlett" is yet another dreary mystery films--with the usual get 'em all together in a room and get one of them to incriminate him/herself at the end of the film finale. These were ludicrous but so many of the films followed this same sort of formula. In most ways, this film did too...but fortunately, it did offer two things to set it apart--Reginald Denny's erudite persona and his assistant, who was anything but! In fact, she was a complete smart aleck and kept me interested in an otherwise passable film. Well worth seeing just because of her!

"Someday I'm gonna have a lot of fun investigating her murder".

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 7 June 2011]

This is generally an 'in the middle' murder mystery and detective story, but considering it's mid-Thirties release it's got a few things going for it. What sells it is the banter between private detective Oliver Keith (Reginald Denny) and his attractive younger secretary Ella (Patricia Farr). It would have been more believable if the story kept any semblance of a relationship between the two out of it, as Denny was twice as old as his co-star in real life. But for the most part it worked, especially at the end when they smooched it up to allay viewer fears that Denny's character might have been a bit too abusive.

For all intents and purposes, this could have been virtually any movie detective's show of the era - think Charlie Chan, Mister Wong, Bulldog Drummond, or the favorite on this board, Nick Charles. The story plants a number of red herrings surrounding the murder of antique dealer Albert Sayre (John T. Murray), the most obvious being his wife Julia (Dorothy Revier), and business associate Dyker (Jack Adair). The mystery is solved using your typical 'gather all the suspects in one room' approach, as the detective hero successfully conveys the solution of the case by eliminating the suspects one by one.

The bigger mystery once the film is over is how they came up with the title. The term 'Lady in Scarlet' was mentioned early on in reference to a play Albert and Julia Sayre were discussing, she having favored one called 'The Frolic of '32'. However none of the principal female characters had any connection to the title by virtue of their attire. Be that as it may, it made me think of a similarly named Sherlock Holmes flick from a decade later called "The Woman in Green". In either case, who could tell when the picture's in black and white.

Pretty good, considering

[jonfrum2000 · 6/10 · 30 November 2010]

For the genre and the time, this is a pretty good murder mystery. Other reviewers have noted the similarity to the Thin Man Nick and Nora roles. I found the couple in this movie to be many rungs down on the ladder from Nick and Nora. The couple are husband and wife, and she's not a detective - she's his secretary. Unfortunately, the faux battling between the couple is less than playful to modern eyes - he shoves her from behind, taps her drink into her face, takes a slap at her body, and constantly refers to her in explicitly belittling terms. Yes, we're supposed to understand that it's 'banter,' but the writing took it to far - unlike the Thin Man, which is always played in an obviously affectionate manner. Here, the last words out of his mouth are "Come on, stupid." Not nice at all.

Having said that, the movie works fairly well. The detective is smarter than the police inspector, but the inspector is not a clown - he's just one acceptable step behind. The wife/sidekick is given some stilted lines - they just didn't get the Nora Charles role right here. There are multiple suspects, and attractive women. For fans of the genre, it's definitely worth watching, though you may cringe at some of the husband's 'playfulness,' as I did. There's a fine line between playful and cruel, evidently.

Poor Dorothy Revier in a thankless part

[kidboots · 5/10 · 23 January 2010]

Dorothy Revier never seemed to play anything other than flappers or (when they were passe) sultry femme fatales. Like co-star Claudia Dell, who in 1932 was supporting Tom Mix and Tony, Dorothy ended up supporting cowboy star Buck Jones (in "The Cowboy and the Kid" (1936)) but, also, like Claudia she was fun to have around.

Albert Sayre, an antique dealer has a "trophy" wife, Julia (Dorothy Revier) who he insists on belittling at every opportunity. He suspects her of having an affair with Dr. Boyer (the unappealing Jameson Thomas) and is having her followed. Oliver Keats (debonair Reginald Denny) is a jaded detective, who is called in by Julia to investigate some shady characters she has noticed hanging around the house. Strangely enough she loves her husband and is worried about him - but when they arrive at the house they find he has been murdered.

Alice (beautiful Claudia Dell) bursts in - she is convinced Julia is guilty - those in the audience familiar with Revier and her roles, probably thought she was too!!! Alice is married to Arthur Pennyward, Sayre's assistant and Sayre was her father. Sayre wasn't all he seemed - he also had a sideline in faking antiques and villainous looking Dyker (Jack Adair) is charged with his murder. Alice still isn't convinced that Julia is innocent and insists the will be read immediately. She is astounded when she realises that she is a joint inheritor with Julia. (She had had a fight with her father that day about her marriage and she thought she was disinherited.) That means she is also under suspicion.

Everyone acts guilty, there are plenty of red herrings - when Julia and Boyer are having supper they phone Sayre but get no response - he is already dead!!! but it looks suspicious for them and it isn't explained. Patricia Farr - "courtesy of Fox Films" - plays Keat's sassy secretary who is kept busy dishing out quips and wisecracks.

"He Can't Work Overtime, It Interferes With His Drinking"

[davidcarniglia · 6/10 · 2 November 2018]

Fast-paced murder mystery with plenty of snappy dialogue. Patricia Farr, as Reginald Denny's assistant Ella, really steals the show with wall-to-wall sarcasm.

A bunch of suspects, each with a tangible motive, surround Albert Sayre's (John Murray's) murder: his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and assorted business associates. The plot teasingly points to one, then another of them as the murderer. In a rather formal expose, Keith (Denny) leads, through cunning deduction, to the actual culprit. This drawn-out Sherlock Holmes bit has its own convoluted drama.

Some of the characters are slightly nutty, but that works out well because Keith and Ella are by far the most eccentric. Though intricate, the plot makes sense. What doesn't work so well are some of the characters' relationships.

The Inspector treats Keith as a colleague, if not his superior. I could buy some easy familiarity between the police and a well-regarded private eye, but Keith's role is so inflated that the Inspector really has nothing to do.

Others here have dwelt on the disgusting way that Keith treats Ella. The fact that his more than verbally abusive behavior wouldn't raise as much of a concern eighty years ago is beside the point. It's so relentless (he calls her "stupid" about a dozen times) that it undercuts the clever camaraderie that's obviously the focus between these main characters.

Why would she want to work for such a jerk? With some milder put-downs the relationship would lose nothing, and seem more believable. Likewise, it would be better if the Inspector took charge, or at least asserted himself more with Keith.

As it is, The Lady In Scarlet gives us an entertaining mystery with a ton of one-liners. 6/10.

All the usual suspects are there.....

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 6 June 2014]

Even though this is a predictable murder mystery with the victim (John T. Murray) seemingly deserving of becoming the victim, there's a lot to enjoy in this "B" programmer where the dialog makes an otherwise predictable storyline more enjoyable. The story is set up with the extremely jealous Murray making it clear to his wife (Dorothy Revier) that he is keeping a close watch on her, being totally aware of her infidelities, while the obviously embittered daughter (Claudia Dell) from his first marriage makes it clear that Revier is the prime suspect. There's also assorted business partners or rivals and Dell's fiancée (whom Murray disapproved of), all questioned by playboy private detective Reginald Denny and his wise-cracking "Girl Friday" (Patricia Farr).

It's Farr's character who gets the bulk of the great dialog here, saying such great hard-boiled lines as "He can't work overtime. It interferes with his drinking". When she finds her employer/lover on the phone, she makes her own suspicions known by saying, "I know you didn't go into that booth to fix your girdle!". The wife/lover, daughter/fiancée characters are not sterotypically one-dimensional, giving reasonable motives for each of them as to why they might want to see Murray killed off. Not bad for a bottom of the barrel second feature where the camera moved in obviously very close onto the set to hide how cramped and small it really was.

Symbolic killing?

[greenbudgie · 6/10 · 18 February 2021]

I always enjoy a male/female investigating partnership in mysteries where there is sniping between the two. But all the time you are aware there is an honest affection lying beneath the continual bickering. Oliver Keith and Ella Carey are two such investigators played by Reginald Denny with his English tone and Patricia Farr in her wise-cracking American style. Reginald Denny plays Keith so nonchalant humming to himself while investigating a dead body while Patricia Farr delivers her sarcastic snipes so deadpan. A lot of the remainder of the cast are weak so it's up to the two leads to keep the dialog convincing.

Oliver Keith is initially retained by a friend from the past about a strange man snooping outside her property. Julia Sayre is concerned that her husband Albert is involved in something which is behind the spying. In the meantime she seems to have been on an assignation with the family doctor at the Carlton Bar where she meets up with Keith after her doctor friend has left the establishment. Soon Keith is involved in a murder inquiry when Albert Sayre is found dead strangely with a knife driven through his right hand just before or after the murder. Inspector Trainey of the police puts great emphasis on the symbolic meaning of the knife being driven through the back of the victim's hand.

The plot includes the selling of fake antiques and a disputed will and step mother/step daughter squabbling. The suspects all have plausible motives and all are kept at the forefront of Keith's investigations. One suspect drops out because they are murdered with a cigarette end planted between two of the victim's fingers. I didn't detect the murderer myself so I will say this is a reasonably thought-provoking whodunit from Chesterfield Studios.

Pretty Good Locked Room Mystery

[boblipton · 6/10 · 5 January 2024]

John T. Murray is a collector and dealer in antiquities. He also has a disinherited son, a daughter he has just ordered his lawyers to disinherit, and a young wife in Dorothy Revier. So when she asks private detective Reginald Denny and his secretary Patricia Farr to come home, it is the three of them who discover Murray murdered.

It's a fairly drawn locked-room mystery, and some good chemistry btween Denny's off-handed PI and Miss Farr, even if her snappy lines often lack much snap. Director Charles Lamont knows how to keep a Poverty Row mystery like this one moving along, and a supporting cast that includes Claudia Dell and Lew Kelly is always worth seeing. The real mystery is the murdered man's address: 8 East 51st Street, which is Saks Fifth Avenue!