Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

MYSTERY HOUSE

MYSTERY HOUSE (1938). Director: Noel Smith. 

When it is determined that a man who supposedly took his own life was actually murdered right on the verge of naming the embezzler on his board of directors, nearly every one of the people in a snowbound hunting lodge becomes a suspect. Dick Purcell stars as a detective to tries to get at the truth at the urging of the victim's daughter (Anne Nagel), and Elspeth Dudgeon is fun as the elderly wheelchair-bound aunt who has her own secrets. William Hopper, son of actress/Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, later played Paul Drake on the Perry Mason TV series. Mystery House is a short, fast-moving mystery -- based on a novel by Mignon Eberhart -- that has virtually no real style but somehow manages to hold the attention. The "Oomph" girl, Ann Sheridan, adds some energy as a nurse.

Verdict: Good for a rainy afternoon or just before bed. **1/2. 

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