1938's "The Last Warning" was number 5 out of the 7 Crime Club mysteries from Universal, the third and last to star Preston Foster as Detective Bill Crane, and Frank Jenks as his sidekick Doc Williams. Set at a country estate owned by Major Barclay (E. E. Clive), the duo do more than their share of mugging, surrounded by beautiful girls around the swimming pool. They have been hired by John Essex (Ray Parker), Barclay's nephew, who has been receiving threatening notes from the mysterious 'Eye,' after which John's sister Linda (Frances Robinson) is kidnapped. Easily the weakest of the Bill Crane trio, the wisecracks not so smooth taken out of their natural element, much like the third 'I Love a Mystery' title, "The Unknown" (1946). A last bit of trivia: the last three Crime Clubs were the only ones included in the popular SHOCK! package issued to television in the late 1950s (only "Mystery of the White Room" actually aired on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater); plus, 1939's "The House of Fear" has often been mistaken for a Crime Club, but was actually a remake of a 1929 part-talkie from director Paul Leni, "The Last Warning," which has no connection to this Crane-Williams feature. The next Crime Club would be "Mystery of the White Room."
5 Reviews
I should have been warned to watch these in order.
mark.waltz19 July 2019
Warning: Spoilers
One day, I will sit down and watch all of Universal's Crime Club series in order, as I think to get to know the formula makes them a lot more enjoyable than watching them over a stretch of time. I have probably seen 90% of them in the past two years, and while enjoyable, there's still a lot of unanswered questions that would be answered for me if I were to watch them as a set rather than sporadically. I would call the mystery solving team of Preston Foster and Frank Jenks a poor man's Sherlock Holmes and Watson, but these films were made before the Sherlock Holmes series began, let alone went to Universal. Foster is intelligent and urbane, while Jenks has an air of eccentricity and ditsiness about him that hides the fact that he too, can be smart once things start coming together for him.
For some reason, the two are brought to a mansion for a weekend party where of course murder occurs, and a series of suspects is gathered together to find out how the crime occurred. It's complex, comical, glamorous and fun, yet to fully pay attention and to pick up every single detail within the short running time can be a bit perplexing and challenging. the feature performances are all very good, with veteran British actor E.E. Clive standing out as the droll host, Kay Linaker, Joyce Compton and Frances Robinson three lovely ladies heavily involved in the plot, Albert Dekker as the butler, and Raymond Parker and Robert Paige as two handsome young men involved in assorted dealings going on.
Films like this are best watch knowing nothing going in, and so all a review can state is if the viewer founded gripping or interesting or realistic. Two out of three (the first two that I list) are apt descriptions, and as far as the realism, well... You'll have to decide. Still, it's a fun time passer, intriguing and probably a challenge if you are not fully invested in the film. Artistically, it's well done even though it was obviously made on a tight Universal budget, and the cast of mostly unknowns helps make it a bit more intriguing because they're not someone you can recall from a lot of other films.
For some reason, the two are brought to a mansion for a weekend party where of course murder occurs, and a series of suspects is gathered together to find out how the crime occurred. It's complex, comical, glamorous and fun, yet to fully pay attention and to pick up every single detail within the short running time can be a bit perplexing and challenging. the feature performances are all very good, with veteran British actor E.E. Clive standing out as the droll host, Kay Linaker, Joyce Compton and Frances Robinson three lovely ladies heavily involved in the plot, Albert Dekker as the butler, and Raymond Parker and Robert Paige as two handsome young men involved in assorted dealings going on.
Films like this are best watch knowing nothing going in, and so all a review can state is if the viewer founded gripping or interesting or realistic. Two out of three (the first two that I list) are apt descriptions, and as far as the realism, well... You'll have to decide. Still, it's a fun time passer, intriguing and probably a challenge if you are not fully invested in the film. Artistically, it's well done even though it was obviously made on a tight Universal budget, and the cast of mostly unknowns helps make it a bit more intriguing because they're not someone you can recall from a lot of other films.
An excellent mystery!
normv21 January 2002
A very clever and interesting mystery! It's great fun to watch the 2 detectives insult (and make fun of) stuffy butlers and British Majors, etc.
The method of the killings is extremely clever; the viewer will never guess how it was done!
Also, Joyce Compton (finally!) plays a sexy starlet, instead of her usual "dizzy broad" role.
Norm Vogel
The method of the killings is extremely clever; the viewer will never guess how it was done!
Also, Joyce Compton (finally!) plays a sexy starlet, instead of her usual "dizzy broad" role.
Norm Vogel
OK, but Jonathan Latimer's works need to be read for now
wiluxe-228 November 2002
A few of Jonathan Latimer's books made it to the screen, none memorably. The novel this is based on, THE DEAD DON'T CARE, certainly deserved better treatment than it gets with this film. A complex, frequently hilarious, and suspenseful novel was turned into a tepid, clumsy, run-of-the-mill detective film with Foster as Bill Crane, Latimer's alcoholic detective (as the blurb on the cover of the paperback for LADY IN THE MORGUE says "Bill Crane--unique and alcoholic!") in a string of mystery novels. Latimer was a Phi Beta Kappa who later wrote the tense, terrific screenplay for THE CLOCK, starring Ray Milland.
Latimer later wrote or adapted scores of teleplays for PERRY MASON; his work for the show are among the best mysteries written for television.
Read the book this film is based on, if you can find a copy--it's great!
Latimer later wrote or adapted scores of teleplays for PERRY MASON; his work for the show are among the best mysteries written for television.
Read the book this film is based on, if you can find a copy--it's great!
Worth mystery thriller
searchanddestroy-110 January 2023
Made in the late thirties, it is a bit better and more fun and faster than the previous ones, no matter the companies which produced them. It is an Universal Studios stuff but sounds like a Warner Bros one. Directed by a prolific bland director, from whom I watched only a very few movies, it is dynamic, not boring at all. It is a gumshoe story, private eyes, which is not that usual in the thirties; I have not seen many of them; but more in the forties, many more. Preston Foster is very convincing in this agreeable time waster. Adapted from a Jonathan Latimer novel, the basic material was supposed to be good enough for the audiences.
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