THE MYSTERY OF MR. X-1934-A series of police killings plague London. The killer uses a sword to run his victims through. An American jewel thief Nicolas Revel (Robert Montgomery) finds one of the victims while stealing “The Breton Diamond”. The police think the killer (named Mr. X) and the diamond stealer are the same person. Revel devises a plot to try and get the police off the trail of the diamond with the help of his cockney cab driver accomplice (Forrester Harvey). The plot kind of backfires as Revel falls in love with the daughter (Elizabeth Allen) of the police superintendent (Lewis Stone) who was on to Revel anyway. It’s talky in spots but well done with a nice climax. The only dumb part is the way Revel figures out the killer’s pattern for his crimes. He figures out in a minute what the police couldn’t solve in weeks!
Director Edgar Selwyn only helmed a handful of movies (his most notable is THE SIN OF MADAME CLAUDET in 1931 for which Helen Hayes won an early Oscar). He was more successful with Broadway musicals he produced and/or wrote. He and his brother built The Selwyn theater in Times Square! Lead actress Allen was in Tod Browning’s MARK OF THE VAMPIRE the next year. For some reason Harvey is often listed as the father of the doomed Maria in James Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN though the role is played by another actor!
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