MURDER IN THE MUSEUM

US, 1934, 61 minutes, Black and white.
Henry B. Walthall, John Harron, Phyllis Barrington.
Directed by Melville Shyer.

This is a rather creaky murder mystery, set in a carnival with all kinds of sideshows – and a number of freaks but anticipating Todd Browning’s film, Freaks by a year.

The film shows the various exhibits, fairly tawdry, some frauds, but also shows authorities in the city coming to the shows and the possibility of closing them down. Two of the dignitaries visiting are political rivals – and one of them is murdered.

The central character is a journalist who is always on the move for a story. Is attracted by the niece of one of the dignitaries who becomes a suspect in the killing. They work together, especially when the carnival opens the next day and one of the attractions is for visitors to view the site of the murder. They drill a hole in the roof so that they can see what is going on – but are attacked and are discovered because of the noise.

The owner of the carnival is also a former prisoner and therefore under suspicion.

One of the central characters is a dignified gentleman who is reduced to having an act in the carnival – Henry B. Wrathall who does something of a similar kind of portrayal as veteran George Arliss.

The audience will be suspicious of him because he feels threatened by the authorities but the question is how did he do it, something that the journalist discovers, hollow table legs which had been used as the equivalent of a rightful.

The professor acknowledges the truth of what the journalist has discovered, writes a very dignified suicide note and kills himself. The politician is now not under suspicion and the journalist and the niece become a happy couple.