Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Yvonne Jodi Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Case This is the kind of film, where you will really have a hard time deciding if you like it or not. Basically it is nothing more than a very, very clichéd murder mystery, but it is fully aware of that and make no secret about it. And that is what almost saves this one. But only almost.There is nothing here that we haven't seen dozens, hundreds of times: old rich lady with greedy relatives, who are all sweet and lovely with her in one minute and try to put her in an asylum the next. We have the ambitious, but pretty much clueless local sheriff, the clever reporter (Wallace Ford), who does all the job the police should, his pretty assistant and all those other stock characters that pop up at all the similar films. Did I mention the old house, filled with hidden corridors? And that the old lady decides the invite all the would-be heirs to her house at midnight? Sounds familiar? Sure it does.But what makes this one stand out is that it is not just completely aware of its clichéd nature, but actually makes fun of itself all the time. And these in-jokes provide easily the best moments of the movie. The scene where Ford states, that he can't die, as he is the handsome young hero or when they even go as far as mentioning their most obvious inspiration, The Cat and the Canary (which had a hugely successful remake two years before this came out), referring to its similar invited-at-midnight theme...? Priceless! But my personal favorite is probably when Ford states that "There comes a time in every murder mystery, when all the corpus delicti are missing and it generally happens just past the middle of the picture." Guess what happens in the movie and when. But we even know who's going to be the first victim, way before the actual murder takes place. This self-reflection really works fine.The problem is that beside this the film has nearly nothing to offer. The screenplay is pretty badly written: the opening scene at the court already puts our expectations pretty low (the wisecracking lady is pretty funny, but the lawyer's complete lack of evidence make the whole scene very awkward), no surprises, no suspense, the characters are mostly very shallow (after they get killed, you will have a hard time remembering who some of the victims were) and even the motives are rather pointless. And while the actors are OK, there aren't any memorable performances.Too bad. With a bit more effort, it could be a little gem, like the rather similar, but far superior One Frightened Night (1935 - also starring Wallace Ford), which worked wonders with its similarly minimal budget. But this way, this hardly passes as a time-passer.

mark.waltz So does apparently eccentric matron Sarah Padden, the spinster matriarch of a greedy family who wants to put her in a nut house so they can get their grungy hands on her fortune of $3 million. She invites them all to spend a week in her mountaintop mansion where you know what starts to happen. You've seen this all before, but right from the beginning, this film's tongue is so far into its cheek that the laughter starts rolling as soon as the old dear takes the stand in her defense. Padden is adorable, insulting her family and outlandishly insufferable in-laws (which includes Minerva Urecal, the "poor man's" Marjorie Main) and even columnist Wallace Ford whom she admits to that she reads his column but didn't reveal it on the stand because it might hurt her case.While this plot line has been overdone (often very predictably), it has never been done so fun, and you can see elements of later comedies with the same theme ("Murder By Death" and "Clue") in its short 64 minute running time. A film so much fun deserves a higher rating because the laugh quotient is greater than normal. To say more would spoil the delights.

gridoon2018 This is a cheap and antiquated production - upon seeing it, if one didn't know better, one might assume that there was almost no advancement in any areas of filmmaking between, say, 1931 and 1941, which of course is not true. The script has some knowing moments of satire at the genre (the outsider who comes in the "last 3 pages", the disappearing corpses "just after the middle of the picture", the closing gag about the Hays office, etc.), and fairly unpredictable culprit(s), but the final twist leaves a bad taste behind since it renders the preceding deaths both meaningless and avoidable. As the eccentric and sharp-tongued aunt, Sarah Padden is the best out of a generally B-level cast. ** out of 4.

sbibb1 Thsi film is one of those Old Dark House murder mystery films that Hollywood was so fond on in the 1940s. This B movie stars Wallace Ford as a popular newspaper columnist and Marian Marsh as his secretary/girlfriend.A rich old lady (Sarah Padden) is claimed to be insane by her family and is taken to court. The court declares her sane. Shrotly thereafter she invites all her family members to her mansion in upstate New York to spend the week so that she can watch over them to decide who to leave her $3 million estate. One by one family members are murdered, with the killer seemingly hiding and watching from hidden passageways that are throughout the house.A typical second feature film, this movie is somewhat enjoyable, but for those of you who are used to suspenseful spooky house movies, this is not what you are looking for. This movie is in the public domain and as such can be easily found on DVD and VHS.