The Hangman Waits

The discovery of parts of a murdered girl sends the press and police on a manhunt.

It's a fairly experimental thriller directed by a fellow named A. Barr-Smith, who directed, produced and wrote a few movies around this time. He was born in 1905, he was Australian, and that's about the limit of knowledge about him on the Internet. His technique here is advanced, as if someone were to apply early Academician techniques to a murder mystery. It works, although erratically, because a loud and irrelevant score by Albert Ferber demands the viewer's attention. Still, the editing technique works in building suspense, as we see peoples' reactions more than the action, and parts of the performers, as if they are victims of the murderer. Over all, I found it unsatisfactory because of its inconsistent pacing, but it definitely points the way to something that might have been interesting.

John Le Meseurier makes his first screen appearance in an uncredited bit.