Midnight Mystery
Directed by George B. Seitz
Written by Beulah Marie Dix based on a play by Howard Irving Young
1930/US
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/YouTube
Tagline: Alive with Suspense…Topping All Melodrama for Sheer Spine-Chilling Action
This B-picture is not quite as scary as it was meant to be but does offer about an hour of entertainment.
Gregory Sloane (Hugh Trevor) invites his friends for a country weekend on a remote island off the coast of Cuba. Among these is his fiance Sally (Betty Compson). She is a published mystery writer. Gregory Sloane deems this trash and demands that she give it up and concentrate on him. Relations become strained to say the least. Also present is Tom (Lowell Sherman), a criminal defense attorney, who is monopolizing Sally with stories from his past that could provide inspiration for a new novel. Tom’s wife is having an affair with Gregory’s best friend Mischa. A couple of other guests round out the party.
The story has so many twists that it would not be fair to reveal more.
This movie is extremely stage-bound and suffers from early talkie-itis. Nonetheless I thought the story was rather clever and it kept me engaged for its short running time.
