Murder by Rope

George Pearsons career was distinguished.he was a pioneer of British cinema.In 1930 he had produced "Journeys End" in America.However within 6 years his career came to an end.He was directing quota quickies such as this,and only had 2 more films to make.the film starts quite enterprisingly.The story of a trial is told in newspaper billboards.After the jury deliberations we go to the court for sentencing.However the scenes are cleverly shot so that we only really see the actors and not the courtroom to save money on sets.Subsequently an attack on the hangman is made in the dark and we can see the shadows on the wall.All very expressionistic.Then we end up at a country house as with so many murder mysteries of the time.The direction is mainly concerned with grouping of characters,the acting and writing are at times abysmal.On one of the murders since you cant see the body you have to go through the male characters on screen and then work out who is missing.The fact that the only familiar actor is Wilfred Hyde White may give a clue as to the poor standard of acting.All in all a sad way on which to be ending a career.