Jump to: navigation, search

Motion Picture News (01/Nov/1930) - Murder

Details

Article

Murder

(British International)

Good Attraction

(Reviewed by Charles F. Hynes)

PROBABLY the best of the pictures recently produced in Great Britain, this boasts a strong story, capably acted by a fine cast. Top honors go to Herbert Marshall, a good looking and capable hero, who solves the murder mystery.

The picture has the fault common to many British films of too much dialogue and lack of action, but good direction surmounts this obstacle and the suspense is sustained throughout.

An actress is murdered in a theatre after a quarrel with a girl in the cast, who is found unconscious beside the corpse. The girl is sentenced to hang but on the jury is a noted playwright-producer who, after the trial, becomes convinced of the girl's innocence. He traps the murderer through the ingenious method of casting the suspected man in a dramatization of the murder case.

The climax carries a good punch, with the murderer going through his trapeze routine at the circus, placing a noose around his neck and jumping to his death when he realizes he is caught.

There are no names of American prominence in the cast, but Marshall should be played up, as he is a good potential bet. This looks like a good offering for the weekly changes, as well as subsequents. The title should give it draw. It's recorded by RCA Photophone.

Musicals and comedy needed.

Produced and distributed by British International Pictures. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. From the play, "Enter Sir John," by Clemence Dane. Scenario by Alma Reville. Edited by Rene Harrison and Emile De Ruelle. Photographed by J. J. Fox. Length, 8,200 feet. Running time, 91 mins. Release date, Oct. 24.

Retrieved from ‘http://the.hitchcock.zone/w/index.php?title=Motion_Picture_News_(01/Nov/1930)_-_Murder&oldid=192817’