Shadows on the Stairs is a B mystery film from Warners and, despite some of the British accents, it was filmed in Hollywood on the Warners lot. It's a light mystery that probably was just what the Brits needed as war was raging.
Based on a Broadway play produced in 1929, the story concerns a boarding house, the Armitage, where a murder takes place. The victim is one Joe Reynolds (Paul Cavanagh), who was up to something no good with another lodger, Ram Singh (Turhan Bey) and also having a clandestine relationship with Mrs. Stella Armitage (Frieda Inescourt) herself.
Ram Singh, we learn, is a patriot attempting to free India from the British. His group is to get $500,000 British pounds with Joe's help, but Joe is a racketeer.
Mrs. Armitage is a wreck about Joe's business affairs and lets him know she's determined to put a stop to them. Little does she know that her husband Tom (Miles Mander) saw her and Reynolds embracing. So he's another suspect, right along with Stella and Ram Singh.
Other characters include a recently fired maid, Lucy (Phyllis Barry) who was also involved with Joe. The only ones who don't seem involved are the Armitage's daughter, Sylvia (Heather Angel), and a playwright (Bruce Lester) who is in love with her. Then there's the spinster, Phoebe Martin Saint John Snell (Mary Field).
With a second murder, the problem becomes even more difficult to figure out for the inspector.
And the denouement will surprise you.
Very well done mystery that will bring a smile to your face. The acting is delightful, with the exception perhaps of Frieda Inescourt, who seems to be playing to the last row of the National Theatre.
An unusual film for Warner Brothers, but entertaining just the same.
