So who fiddled with the props. Heart-throb actor Brent was only supposed to get shot with blanks. But now he lies on the sound stage floor, deader than the proverbial doornail.
As a whodunit, the movie's only moderately interesting. As a peek inside a filming crew, the movie's fascinating. But as a subtext of studio politics, the movie's a subtle insider glimpse.
To me, the film's highpoint comes when the studio head Grossmith stumbles for words for the press, only to be interrupted by his flowery pr man who dishes out the pr pablum in high-falutin' style. I'm wondering how much of that is aimed at the relatively uneducated likes of Louis B. Mayer at MGM or Jack Warner at Warner Bros. Then too, note how the real crime-solving sleuth is not an executive type, but a screenwriter (Manners) instead. Now how do you suppose that decision ended up in the script. Sometimes being a lowly screenwriter has its hidden perks.
Anyway, it's certainly different to catch Lugosi not making a meal out of somebody's neck. Still, I kept wanting to tell people not to stand too close. Then there' s the luscious Adrienne Ames (Marcia) who can go toe-to-toe with any Hollywood beauty of that day or this. Too bad she died so young. And, of course, there's Manners who started out as annoyingly smug when outsmarting the coppers. I'm glad he eased eventually into someone more likable.
All in all, the movie's worth catching up with for its insider look at movie-making, 1930's style.
