One Frightened Night

"An aging eccentric millionaire gathers his heirs and informs them that he intends to give his fortune to his granddaughter, if she appears before midnight, otherwise the five of them will split the estate. Two women arrive claiming to be the long-lost granddaughter, which upsets all of the other relatives. When one of the women ends up dead, suspicion falls upon everyone who potentially would benefit form the elimination of the other heirs," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

For the umpteenth time, a group of interconnecting people gather at a spooky mansion, hope to collect a fortune, and become murder victims (or suspects) - it's a very familiar plot. But, "One Frightened Night" manages to always seem cleverer than it is. Director Christy Cabanne, who was often hired to keep thing moving, does just that, while managing to throw in some of the flair he more often neglected. It's nice to see an older actor, Charley Grapewin (as Jasper Wythe), taking the lead; and, the rest of the cast circumvents him well.

***** One Frightened Night (1935) Christy Cabanne ~ Charley Grapewin, Mary Carlisle, Wallace Ford

As Old Dark House movies go, it's not bad. It has the intriguing plot of having a group of no goods, needing money, having it given to them by the old rich man, and then having it plucked away. A murder is committed and then all the fun starts. There are secret closets and passages. There are dumb policemen and their partners. There are suspects all over the place. There's the guy who was Dorothy's uncle in "The Wizard of Oz." We never know who to suspect. I have to admit that I felt sorry for some of the people who were going to get the money and then were aced out by a young woman, the granddaughter of the old man. I felt the housekeeper got a raw deal since she is treated pretty shabbily throughout. Even when we find out who did it, it's a little disappointing. The fun was "not" knowing. Nevertheless, there's lots of action and enough humor to make it fun. It's better than most of its ilk.

Greed is the key in Christy Cabanne's ONE FRIGHTENED NIGHT, which begins with the heirs of elderly Jasper Whyte (THE WIZARD OF OZ's Charley Grapewin) assembling to learn the division of his $5,000,000 estate. Among the expectant are Jasper's wastrel nephew Tom (Regis Toomey), flighty daughter Laura (Hedda Hopper, in DRACULA'S DAUGHTER the following year), ambitious son-in-law Arthur (Arthur Hohl), family doctor Denham (Lucien Littlefield) and scornful housekeeper Elvira (Rafaela Ottiano, later of Tod Browning's THE DEVIL-DOLL). The crotchety Jasper surprises his relations by promising them all $1,000,000, barring the return of wayward granddaughter Doris Waverly before midnight-- but come the witching hour, Jasper finds he must choose between two young women claiming to be the grown up Doris, one demure and polite (Evalyn Knapp) and the other (Mary Carlisle, later in DEAD MEN WALK) sharp-tongued and accompanied by pesky variety magician The Great Luvalle (Wallace Ford, billed as Wally). When one of the Dorises turns up dead by poison, local sheriff Jenks (Fred Kelsey) and deputy Abner (Adrian Morris, brother of Chester), have their hands full trying to keep the survivors from either killing one another or falling victim to a masked fiend dealing death through the business end of an Amazon blow gun.

Former D. W. Griffith protégé Cabanne kicks off this Mascot Pictures quickie with a credit sequence promising a fun sixty minutes plus: as lightning flashes and rain pelts a miniature mockup of an old dark house, the shutters burst open to reveal titles written on window shades drawn down by a bare, pallid arm. After the introduction of the cast via a series of cute vignettes, the camera (cinematography is credited to both Ernest Miller, who later shot Sam Fuller's THE STEEL HELMET, and William Nobles) pushes in through the drawing room windows, upsetting the drapes and telegraphing the dark and stormy atmosphere that will prove `a swell night for a murder.' The script by Wellyn Totman (from a story by mystery writer Stuart Palmer) thwarts expectations by allowing the crusty Jasper Whyte to survive beyond the anticipated expiration date of a cinematic septuagenarian with his fingers curled around a multi-million dollar fortune. Although Wallace Ford steals the show (`Stick around this morgue long enough and they'll be saying goodbye to you with flowers!'), Mary Carlisle proves his equal in doling out the jibes (`I've played tougher houses than this!')-- it's a pity that Totman's script requires her to manifest more romantic interest in Regis Toomey than Ford (who would appear for Cabanne again as the magic-obsessed Babe Hansen of THE MUMMY'S HAND).

And featuring the likeable clown from Freaks. What more could one ask? A low-budget Old Dark House mystery that is better than it needs to be, with sharp dialogue and engaging characters...can't go wrong!

Why can't all B pictures be this good?

Jasper Whyte calls all of his associates and friends (few in number) to his house (on a night with plenty of rain, thunder, and lightning) to give away all of his estate before an inheritance tax would lessen the amount. One million dollars is to be given to relative Tom Dean, maid Elvira, Dr. Denham, lawyer Felix, and another relative, Laura Proctor (and her husband Arthur). When Felix arrives at the mansion, he brings a woman who claims to be Doris Waverly, Whyte's long lost granddaughter. Seeing his only true heir, Whyte decides to give all of his money to her, which obviously ticks off all the others. Things however become more complicated when another woman comes to the mansion claiming to be Doris Waverly (arriving with her vaudeville partner, the Great Lavelle- a magician). Whyte asks the two woman to confront each other, but the first Doris is found murdered in her room. Whyte and Dean send for the police in order to find out who the first woman was and who had her killed, and Doris (the second and real one) must be able to survive until midnight when she gets her inheritance. Very good "Old Dark House" type mystery, with a lot of similarities to The Cat and the Canary, with the young woman inheriting everything while all other members are shut out. Grapewin (as Whyte) and Ford (as Lavelle) play their roles to the hilt which helps the movie and the rest of the cast give adequate performances. Cabanne's direction and the rest of the production crew are able to maintain the mystery and suspense quite well, but its nothing to go ape over. Rating, 7.