Though more than a bit stagebound, this film is silly and enjoyable.
Allen Jenkins and Hugh Herbert are an enjoyable team, and we get to see some nice scenery-chewing by George Rosener (the butler in 1932's "Doctor X") as Captain Hook.
As usual, someone among those gathered at the lighthouse is the master criminal known as The Octopus - but who? It really doesn't matter, because the epilogue takes the film to yet another level!
SPOILER ALERT: As far as the on-camera "unmasking" of the villain, here is how they did it: A very exaggerated makeup was painted on the performer's face (and a couple of teeth, too) using nothing but red makeup. This person was photographed with a red filter over the camera lens at the start of the scene, rendering the red painted makeup invisible to the camera's eye. As the "transformation" took place, the filter was slowly switched to a green one, and now the lines and shadows on the culprit's face suddenly appeared as a very dark tone. The very same technique was also used in 1932 for the earliest transformations of Frederic March in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". (This trick does not work in color films, though, only black and white.)
Anyway, sit back and enjoy the mystery. It gets a bit convoluted, but it's still fun and runs less than an hour. Just don't take it too seriously.
Allen Jenkins and Hugh Herbert are an enjoyable team, and we get to see some nice scenery-chewing by George Rosener (the butler in 1932's "Doctor X") as Captain Hook.
As usual, someone among those gathered at the lighthouse is the master criminal known as The Octopus - but who? It really doesn't matter, because the epilogue takes the film to yet another level!
SPOILER ALERT: As far as the on-camera "unmasking" of the villain, here is how they did it: A very exaggerated makeup was painted on the performer's face (and a couple of teeth, too) using nothing but red makeup. This person was photographed with a red filter over the camera lens at the start of the scene, rendering the red painted makeup invisible to the camera's eye. As the "transformation" took place, the filter was slowly switched to a green one, and now the lines and shadows on the culprit's face suddenly appeared as a very dark tone. The very same technique was also used in 1932 for the earliest transformations of Frederic March in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". (This trick does not work in color films, though, only black and white.)
Anyway, sit back and enjoy the mystery. It gets a bit convoluted, but it's still fun and runs less than an hour. Just don't take it too seriously.