The Preview Murder Mystery

This 1936 film from director Robert Florey is a return for him to the field of dark films, a path he almost started on early in his career. Florey did Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1932 as a consolation for being dropped from Frankenstein. In 1935 he directed The Florentine Dagger, another thriller. The Preview Murder Mystery was his most taut suspense film up to that date.

It is almost an ensemble piece with Reginald Denny and Frances Drake as the romantic leads, but there isn't much time for romance in this 60 minute murder mystery. What stands out most here is the editing. There are simply a TON of shots in this film. I don't think there is a single shot that lasts more than 10 seconds. Florey gives us every angle and many points of view for each scene and there are many short scenes so that if you get up to go to the bathroom, you'll miss a good chunk of the details. It's a pretty simple plot, but with many twists. An actor is threatened to be murdered before the preview of the movie he is shooting. After the screening he is found dead and the actress and director are next on the murderer's wish list.

Ian Keith puts in a nice turn as the suspicious director. Rod LaRoque is good early as the doomed lead actor. Gail Patrick basically gets to look beautiful and Denny and Drake make a decent team, but they just don't have too much to do. This is really a director's piece and Florey makes the most of all of his opportunities. He even gets to do a mock horror film scene late in the movie that looks good, and there is a comedy scene of another film being shot on a different stage with Chester Conklin in a cameo. Curios they are, but these are gratuitous, and unfortunately almost kill the pace of this movie just as we are about to reach the conclusion. All in all though, a nice way to spend an hour for classic mystery buffs.

The star of "Song of the Toreador" receives threatening messages that he will not survive the preview screening of the film. The studio publicist works with the Director, the Producer and the police, to discover who is behind the threats.

Rather good mystery with a pacy plot, good chemistry between Reginald Denny and Drake - Drake plays an astrology obsessed person. Denny wants to marry her but she says their stars don't align. This is an entertaining mystery with a fine insight of film making of that period. A nice look at paramount studio backlot- the camera angles are great, capturing things nicely.

Originally, a 'B-movie' was a shorter film intended as a second or lesser film at a double-feature. This does not mean they were necessarily bad...just cheaply and quickly made. And, instead of being 90 minutes or more like most A-pictures, the B ran from 50-65 minutes. Because the budgets were low and turnaround time very fast, many of them were pretty bad...but most were just ordinary time-passers. "The Preview Murder Mystery" is something different...it's one of the better Bs.

A new movie is about to debut and something odd is happening...someone is sending death threats to the leading man. So, while it's supposed to be a breakout film making him a star, his shining moment is marred with concerns about murder. Well, despite the police watching carefully, the man IS murdered in the middle of the preview for this film. But this isn't enough for the killer...and soon other folks connected with this movie begin to receive similar notes and attempts on their lives.

While I picked up on who the killer probably was early in the picture, it didn't really ruin the movie for me. Why? Because, despite being a B, the acting, direction and script were quite good. While hundreds or more B-murder mystery films were made, this one is very different and doesn't suffer from the usual cliches (such as the REALLY dopey cops). It's solid and very entertaining...and deserves to be seen as better than just another B.

Pretty inventive, daring, smart, brilliant, and because I guess the Robert Florey directing. What a very sophisticated little thriller, evoking the sound era in Hollywood industry, using it for a true mystery yarn. I did not mind the talking instead of action scenes because, I repeat, this story is pretty good, exciting. But if you are reluctant to the early talkies, maybe it will be a bit difficult for you. Robert Florey was a convincing B director from the forties and late thirties too. Many crime films and dramas, some adventures flicks, short and tense, before goung to the Tv industry with always the same talent.

Yes, this is a B-picture. But as I said in my subject heading, this is a case of the B standing for Better.

The director, Robert Florey, did a remarkable job of covering up the strain placed on what must have been his modest budget. My favorite feature of this film is the innovative cinematography. Look at the use of shadows and its interplay with patches of light. Look at the use of Dutch tilts, making the environs of the studio look dangerous and mysterious. You can turn the sound off and just admire the camera man's craft.

There was one fascinating sequence involving the Batman. We spend a few moments on a set that looks like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with a character that looks like Conrad Veidt. We learn that he's portraying a character called "the Batman." This movie was done in 1936. The Batman character that we know first emerged from the Batcave in May, 1939. This movie may mark the first appearance of a character named the Batman on a movie screen.

If you'd like a fun time capsule trip to see moviemaking in the mid 30's, this is your movie.