Sinister Hands

There is nothing super-special about this ensemble murder mystery -- a rich man is killed and everyone is a suspect -- but it is notable as one of a number of detective films of its era to feature mid 20th century depictions of mystics, seances, seers, fortune tellers, fake physics, and the like. Misha Auer has a nice turn as Swami Yomurda, and therefore the movie joins my collection of B-Movies with occultism themes. There is something intriguing to me about this sort of exoticism -- it is rarely respectful of the occult, but it always spices up the proceedings and can also provide an excuse for some nifty set dressing and costuming.

A group of zillionaires is gathered in a mansion to witness Swami Yomurda (Mischa Auer) demonstrate his mystical powers. Two minutes into the seance the lights go out, and when they come back on someone lies dead on the floor!

Almost everyone in the room has a motive for killing the victim.

SINISTER HANDS has the standard "old dark house" plot, set up, and rogue's gallery of suspects. There's even a tough-talking detective and his goofy sidekick!

Fans of this sub-genre won't find anything groundbreaking here, but it's nonetheless entertaining...

The lights are turned out during a seance, When the lights come back on, Phillips Smalley is dead with a knife in his back. Detective Captain Jack Mulhall comes to investigate and soon discovers that almost all present had motives to kill him and, given the dark, had opportunity. So who did it?

It's a typical cheap mystery directed by Armand Schaefer and not, alas, a well constructed one. Although I figured out whodunnit before it was revealed, vital clues were not shown to the audience until Mulhall begins his summation -- with all the suspects in the room, natch -- which is not playing fair with the mystery aspect of the movie. Also, despite some good lighting by William Nobles -- his first movie was a Mary Pickford vehicle, but he soon sank into the ranks of B cameramen and never recovered -- is there much in the way of interesting action. Instead, it's a nearly constant stream of talk, pausing only to show a clue to the mystery.

If you like murder mysteries the you've seen this movie before, probably at least a hundred times. The plot is the typical a group of people are staying at the home of a rich man who turns up dead. The police arrive to flush out the killer and its quickly revealed that everyone wanted the guy dead. Its an early sound version of the plot line you've come to know and love. Spicing things up is the addition of an Oriental fortune teller played by Misha Auer. The introductions to most of the characters come during a reading he is doing for one of the people staying at the house. Its a unique twist to the proceedings. Auer himself ends up at the house and it is during a gathering for a séance that the murder occurs.

Despite my low rating this is not a bad movie. The cast is good the mystery serviceable. The problem is that time has not been particularly kind to this movie. Its pacing is now rather slack and it seems to just go on and on. The action is a bit static. The film being a relatively early sound film is very talky at times. The detective once he appears is capable of chattering on and on a good deal. The flaws are not fatal, but since this is a path I had been down before numerous times I found that I wasn't enjoying it as much as I would if I wasn't a mystery fan.

If you're curious try it, though be warned its the type of thing you've seen before.

Sound and picture quality are pretty shaky, but this thing is already ninety years old, so i guess we're lucky to still have it in any form. Stars Jack Mulhall and Helen Foster. Opens with swami (Mischa Auer) seeing the future. Then we're watching the pool party, where Vivien invites everyone to a séance. The edits are all pretty awkward and choppy. The lights go out, and of course, someone is moidered at the millionaire's house. His wife and daughter have been hanging out with shady characters, and of course, everyone there is now a suspect. The acting is hokey, the directing is hokey, and the story itself is silly too. Looks like the whole thing was filmed at the director's own house, over a long weekend. More bodies start piling up. Something odd must have happened to actor James Burtis (Detective Watkins) .. he did mostly uncredited roles, died young at 46. It's showing on the Moonlight Movies Channel... meh. Directed by Armand Schaefer. Written by Norton Parker. Aint no thang...