Early Talkie

 

 (imdb)

THE NINTH GUEST-1934-8 people are invited to a mysterious party given by someone known only as "The host". The group includes two political rivals who hate each other, a snooty society dame (Helen Flint) and a doctor (Samuel Hinds). The only levelheaded guest is an author (Donald Woods). "The host" talks to them via a special radio and says they all will die. They begin to be killed one by one with the killer being revealed in the finale.

 It's a pre-code talkie based on a play that resembles Agatha Christie's “Then There Were None” which was written later. Genevieve Tobin and Vince Barnett co-star. Unsung director Roy William Neill would go on to make THE BLACK ROOM (with Karloff), FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN and the lion's share of the Univeral Sherlock Holmes series with Basil Rathbone.

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Happy New Year!

13 GHOSTS-1960-College teacher Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods; THE BLACK DOLL) inherits a spooky house from his dead uncle Pluto. After Zorba, his wife Hilda (Rosemary DeCamp) and 2 kids Medea (Jo Morrow) and Buck (Charles Herbert; THE BOY AND THE PIRATES) move in the real estate agent (Martin Milner; on TV's ROUTE 66 at the time) tells them the place is haunted and a Ouija board tells them there are 13 ghosts. When dad puts on some special glasses invented by Pluto he sees a few of them. A colleague Van Allen (John Van Dreelan) translates a book in Greek which tells how Pluto “captured” ghosts from all around the world and brought them to his house. Housekeeper Elaine (Margaret Hamilton), called “the witch” behind her back, gives them the scoop on how Pluto died and warns them to leave. Later Medea has a strange encounter and when Buck puts on the glasses he sees a headless lion tamer! There's also a ghost chef who killed his wife and her lover and a flaming skeleton. Thanks to a special bed Uncle Pluto gets his revenge on the person who killed him. 

William Castle directed this unusual horror story which had the gimmick “Illusion-O” wherein moviegoers were given special ghost viewers to see the ghosts more clearly. Castle provides on screen instructions at the film's onset.

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Ghost?

THE BLACK DOLL-1938-Forgotten murder mystery that goes from serious mystery to comedy murder case. A mean millionaire (C. Henry Gordon) with a second wife (Doris Lloyd) and a no good stepson (William Lunigan) also has a long suffering daughter (Nan Grey) who's in love PI Nick Halstead (Donald Woods). When the millionaire is killed Halstead and a dumb sheriff (Edgar Kennedy) and his deputy (Syd Saylor) investigate. It seems the millionaire and three cronies were responsible for the death of his wife's original husband years before. After every death a weird voodoo like black doll is found. Is the dead man still alive or is it his ghost? 

This average whodunit was the first of 11 features directed by Otis Garrett, a former film editor for Universal who produced this as an entry into their 11 part “Crime Club Mystery” series.

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Chan's Great White Way

CHARLIE CHAN ON BROADWAY-1937-While in the Big Apple being honored with a police escort, brass band and a banquet, Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) and son Lee (Keye Luke) become involved with the usual cast of characters. While on board an NYC bound ship, a woman named Billie Bronson (Louise Henry) has a package many people seem to want. She hides it in Chan’s trunk to get it passed customs. She can't get to it but instead goes to a club and kind of threatens the owner Johnny Berk (Douglas Fowley) after being warned to leave town by gangster Buzz Moran (Leon Ames). Billie winds up shot to death (last seen struggling with Berk over a gun) and Lee is held as a suspect. Charlie and the police Inspector Nelson (Harold Huber) are called away from the banquet. It turns out the hot item Billie possessed was her diary which contained a lot of dirt on the underworld. After some investigating, Charlie gathers everyone together at the Hottentot Club. Besides Berk suspects include his dancer/girlfriend Maria (Joan Woodbury), a newspaper publisher (J. Edward Bromberg) and mobster Moran.  A fast talking reporter Speed (Donald Woods) who’s always trying to scoop a female photographer (Joan Marsh) finds the body. Marc Lawrence is a mysterious early victim and Lon Chaney Jr has an un-billed cameo.

Director Eugene Forde would go on to direct more of the (pretend) Asian detective's cases.

The next Chan adventure would be CHARLIE CHAN IN MONTE CARLO which I reviewed years ago!

It's here: https://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2015/12/chans-back.html

That's followed by CHARLIE CHAN IN HONOLULU

https://moviemeltdown.blogspot.com/2009/05/aloha-charlie.html



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