GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
Sexyloutak
Absolutely the worst movie.
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
mark.waltz
Here's the scenario: costume party in progress, body found. Scream. Detective arrives. Questions behind. Romantic couple on the road, decide to go back. More questions asked. Couple asked why they left. Suspicions arise. Accusations and hints of motives are made. Servants indicate they hated the victim. Suspects go to bed and can't sleep. Questions continue the next day. More clues, more motives. Gather suspects together and reveal exactly what happened. Will the guilty party give themselves up without pulling out a gun? You'll find out in under an hour in this stagy, often awkwardly acted melodrama.Forgotten matinee idols Charles Starrett and Shirley Grey are the romantic leads with a cast of actors who either speak very slowly or overly emote or pose or just bellow. Claude Gillingwater, best known for Shirley Temple movies, is perhaps the most familiar member of the cast, with the rest of the cast extremely obscure. The actress playing the housekeeper may look like Mary Gordon (and sound like like her), but is not. This is a film for severe classic film fans only. Others will be excruciatingly bored.
BA_Harrison
Made in 1934, less than a decade after the introduction of the 'talkie', this crusty old murder mystery makes the most of the relatively new sound technology, being 99.9% talk—which, consequently, makes the film 100% boring.Rather than concentrate on thrills and suspense, Green Eyes is all about the post-murder investigative procedure carried out by Inspector Crofton (John Wray), with a little amateur sleuthing from crime novelist Michael Tracy (Charles Starrett). Theories are bandied back and forth, clues are discussed, and suspects are interviewed at length, none of which is in the slightest bit entertaining.It's a whole load of talk, followed by some more talk, a little chit-chat, a bit of conversation, more talk, even more talk, and then… well, you get the idea. By the end of this film, you'll be wishing that Al Jolson had kept his mouth shut and that the 'talkie revolution' had never happened.
Woodyanders
The body of millionaire Steven Kester is discovered murdered in the closet by the guests at a lavish costume party being held at Kester's stately country mansion. It's up to shrewd and sarcastic crime novelist Michael Tracy (a spirited and likable performance by Charles Starrett) to figure out the identity of the killer. Director Richard Thorpe, working from a witty and compact script by Andrew Moses, relates the absorbing story at a brisk pace, maintains a firm sense of taut narrative economy throughout, and further spices things up with a pleasing sense of sassy humor (Tracy's barbed exchanges with the police are especially sharp and amusing). Moreover, the able cast play their parts with real zest: Starrett's lively acting keeps the picture humming, the fetching Shirley Grey brings tremendous appeal to her role as Kester's feisty grand daughter Jean, John Wary is suitably gruff as the hard-nosed Inspector Crofton, and Dorothy Revier does well as the touchy Mrs. Pritchard. M.A. Anderson's crisp black and white cinematography makes neat use of fades, wipes, and dissolves. A hugely enjoyable item.
MartinHafer
During the 1930s, Hollywood made a ton of murder mysteries. While they continued to make some in the 40s, the 30s was by far the most prolific period--and most of them were B-movies. These Bs had relatively unknown actors, simple plots and usually ended in about an hour...more or less. And, because I love old films, I've seen so many that they're all starting to look the same.Take, for instance, "Green Eyes". It has all the elements you'll find in such a murder film. There is always a know-it-all guy who isn't with the local police--in this case a guy who writes murder mysteries who just happens to be there. There are misdirections galore--with too many folks lying and a supposed suicide to cover up the real murder. The plot is also, at times, too complicated and full of unnecessary details (such as the whole green eyes angle). Not surprisingly, the well-trained professional cops are complete morons. Heck, by watching these films you'd think cops NEVER solved crimes more taxing than jaywalking! And, the film is made entirely of unknown actors. No, none of the film is all that original or all that good, though I did like that they made the writer a bit of a smart-mouth. Worth seeing if you're not yet sick of the genre, but there certainly are similar yet better films out there--such as any of the Charlie Chan films or "Footsteps in the Dark".
