The Blue Room

THE SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM-1933-On the onset of Irene Van Hoffler’s 21 birthday, she (Gloria Stuart, who was in James Cameron's TITANIC 64 years later,,,) gathers with her father Robert (Lionel Atwill) and her three best friends (all male). After the youngest of the trio Tommy (William Janney) confesses his love for her, Irene sings a weird operatic song. They all want to know more about the legend of the blue room which had been locked for 20 years after three murders had occurred there.  On a dare Tommy decides he will stay overnight in the cursed room. Meanwhile the butler (Robert Barrat) has a disheveled visitor at the back door who he tells to come back the next night. Irene is very nervous about Tommy staying in the room. The next day Tommy has disappeared and a window overlooking the moat is open. Possibly he committed suicide but the others find it hard to believe. They search for him but find nothing. Then Irene is “attacked” by a man whose shadow looks suspiciously like the guy the butler put out. That night their novelist/friend Frank (Onslow Stevens) stays in the room. While playing the piano, he's shot to death and the door is locked from the inside. A police commissioner (Edward Arnold) is called in to investigate. He questions everyone and finds a few lying. The  killer is eventually captured, though it's never explained who committed the old murders. Paul Lukas plays Capt. Brink, the one friend who manages to stay alive. (SPOILER: He's not the killer!). This is one of the earliest full length features directed by Kurt Neumann who went onto make many low budget dramas and several TARZAN films. In 1958 he was immortalized in the Sci-Fi genre when he directed THE FLY! 

Wow! Lionel Atwill was a busy actor in 1933! Besides BLUE ROOM he also starred in THE VAMPIRE BAT, MYSTERY IN THE WAX MUSEUM and MURDERS IN THE ZOO!

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