The House of Secrets (1936)

Two men stumble into an old mansion, and get involved with a crazed scientist, torture chambers and sinister medical experiments.

Director:

Roland D. Reed

Writers:

Sydney Horler (from the play and novel by), John W. Krafft (screenplay)

Stars:

Leslie Fenton, Muriel Evans, Noel Madison

Cast

Cast overview:
Leslie Fenton	...	Barry Wilding
Muriel Evans	...	Julie Kenmore
Noel Madison	...	Dan Wharton
Sidney Blackmer	...	Tom Starr
Morgan Wallace	...	Dr. Kenmore
Holmes Herbert	...	Sir Bertram Evans - Home Secretary
Ian Maclaren	...	Commissioner Cross
Jameson Thomas	...	Coventry
Syd Saylor	...	Ed
Matty Fain	...	Jumpy
George Rosener	...	Hector Munson

Storyline

Globe-trotter Barry Wilding (Leslie Fenton) intercedes when a man annoys Julie Kenmore (Muriel Evans) on a ship crossing the English Channel, but she refuses to tell him her name or address. Barry determines to find her in London, but he is summoned to a lawyer's office and informed that he has inherited "The Hawk's Nest", a large estate outside London. He has to sign a declaration that he will never sell the property. He arrives there and is roughly put off his own property be trespassers who have taken up residence. Despite offers to buy the estate and warnings to get out of England, Barry refuses to do either. Julie appears and tells Barry she is living at "The Hawk's Nest" and he must allow her and her father, Dr. Kenmore (Morgan Wallace), to continue to live there for at least six months, and he can not visit her there. But Barry continues to try to solve the mystery that surrounds his inheritance even after being attacked by three American gangsters. Barry tries to enlist the ...

---

Plot Keywords:

property | estate | father | scotland yard | warning | 

---

Taglines:

A guest at the "The House of Secrets"...an adventurer finds plenty of excitement when Death plays host.

---

Genres:

Mystery

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 October 1936 (USA)

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chesterfield Motion Pictures Corporation (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Sir Bertram Evans - Home Secretary: I think, sir, you have said entirely too much.
Tom Starr: You're right. From now on I intend doing something.

---

Connections

Remake of The House of Secrets (1929)

User Reviews

Pretty decent Poverty Row mystery

An American, who has inherited a stately British house, travels to the UK to take ownership of his new estate. What he finds though, are a group of shady individuals living in it, who are seemingly up to no good. Our hero then tries to get to the bottom of this mysterious situation.

House of Secrets is another in the seemingly endless cycle of 30's mystery films. I found it all-in-all to be one of the more enjoyable ones, as there are quite a few plot threads going on, so the film never drags. When it comes to old creaky Poverty Row movies you do have to keep your expectations in check, as these old flicks do have definite limitations. This one does have many of the deficits of these pictures – flat dialogue, a lack of suspense and a ridiculous plot – but it at least tries to keep us entertained throughout with plenty of characters and plot avenues. So overall, as these films go, this one's not too bad at all.