THE RIVERSIDE MURDER

UK, 1935, 64 minutes, black-and-white.
Basil Sydney, Judy Gunn, Zoe Davis, Alastair Sim, Tom Helmore.
Directed by Albert Parker.

During the 1930s and into the 1940s, American studios, some considered Poverty Row studios, made quite a number of interesting short features, second features, which ran about an hour to 70 minutes. This is a British version.

It is very similar to a lot of the American films and to Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians. Sometimes there is a dark house, especially in American films, but this mansion is seen in daylight. There is a basic plot about a deal with four men who contribute their finances to a business venture, with the condition that, if one of them dies, his share goes into the pool. Obviously, a motive for murder. And there is, as one of them is feeding his canary. And, little by little, the others are killed or, as Agatha Christie would ask, are they in fact dead.

Basil Sydney is the detective, a certain amount of charm, but not so engaging as a leading man. He was to appear in a number of British films, most notably playing Claudius in Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet. The main attraction, however, is his associate, played by Alastair Sim in one of his earliest roles. Not that it was too different from a lot of his subsequent roles, but his bald appearance, his enthusiasm, the touch of dithering, his enjoyment of working at the case offer a lot more entertainment than does Basil Sydney.

Judy Gunn appears as a social reporter who wants to interview some of the men and decides that this is an opportunity to move from ordinary articles to crime reporting, much to the annoyance of her editor, and seemingly much to the annoyance of the detective – though, at the end, they are seen as a romantic couple.

All in all, except for Alastair Sim, this is a lesser effort than many other similar American films.