The House of Secrets

Sailing from the United States to London, chivalrous Leslie Fenton (as Barry Wilding) saves pretty Muriel Evans (as Julie Kenmore) from the advances of brutish Matty Kemp. The lady is grateful, but rejects Mr. Fenton's more mannered advances. After debarking, Fenton learns he has inherited a deceased uncle's estate. But, when he visits his mansion, Fenton is chased off the property, by interloping inhabitants. Surprisingly, Ms. Evans (the woman he saved on the ship) is among the uninvited tenants. During the running time, you go from wondering what's happening in "The House of Secrets", to indifference. Fenton and a good cast, including pal Sidney Blackmer (as Tom Starr), try to keep it simmering.

**** The House of Secrets (10/28/36) Roland D. Reed ~ Leslie Fenton, Muriel Evans, Sidney Blackmer

The wise-cracking Leslie Fenton (as "Barry") sounds quite a bit like James Cagney in his gangster days. The lovely Muriel Evans (as "Julie") looks quite a bit like Jean Harlow. The movie is not a true "Old Dark House" movie, because it doesn't have some of the elements required to qualify, but there is an old dark house, a hidden treasure, & lots of mystery. "House of Secrets" is interesting, the dialog is snappy with lots of current day (copyright 1936) slang, the acting is good, the sets are dark & spooky, & there are a few neat sub-plots (one involving Chicago mobsters). What drags this movie down a bit is the redundancy. I couldn't count the number of times Barry asks "What's going on?" & Julie (among many others) replies "I can't tell you." Although I was eventually able to guess the ending, it was difficult to figure out, & fun meanwhile. I rate it 6/10.

"House of Secrets" was a second feature when it came out before World War II. Directed by Roland D. Reed, whose major career in film was as an editor and a producer, this is a mystery with many unnecessarily improbable twists Good acting and occasional crisp dialog make the movie enjoyable.

Leslie Fenton, who made a lot of forgettable and forgotten flicks, is Barry, an American who on the channel ferry to Dover rescues very pretty Julie, Muriel Evans, from the clutches of a cad. A violent one at that. Instantly smitten, he defers returning to the states so as to find Julie in London. Despite being rescued by this gallant, she refused to give him her name, address or measurements.

Fortuitously, Barry is called to a solicitor's office where he is told that an unknown and eccentric uncle bequeathed an ancient manor house to him. But on arriving to take possession he's driven off by dogs, the butler and a gun-wielding older guy. Coincidence of coincidences, Julie is residing at this manor. Only happens in the movies.

What follows is a combination of typical thirties crime genre topped by a mysterious house, possible mad doctor caper. Always the gentleman, Barry pursues Julie who endlessly tells him to stay away from HIS house. Scotland Yard and even the Home Secretary is entangled in the story as Barry remains passionately persistent in trying to see Julie at HIS house from which he's repeatedly barred.

Not the most convincing of plots but some nice lines - including a back and forth between Barry and his solicitor as they attempt to translate Anglo-American slang for each other to facilitate understanding.

Yep, it's a "B+." Alpha has this super bargain DVD out as part of its very large release of old, pre-war flicks (I paid $4.99).

So try and catch it.

6/10.

I like the Chesterfield stable of 1930s mysteries which is where this one hails from. This film is a modest affair but it does have an out and out mystery thing going for it.

An American man finds he has inherited a property in England but he is barred from entering it from the outset. He's unable to trust anyone as he is sold all sorts of information about this old country house. He doesn't know if the Hawk's Nest manor is already occupied by a bunch of crooks or a bunch of cranks. There are all kinds of mystery ingredients to the story which include a 300 year old manuscript and scientific experiments and a couple of big mysterious cellars.

There are no characters that immediately spring out. My favorite is the friend of the American inheritor. A fellow American man called Tom who is solidly played by Sidney Blackmer. He got to play the lead in a later mystery called 'The Panther's Claw' (1942) which I recommend to genre fans.

Some of the dialog is fairly good. I like the posters for this film especially the green ghoulish one that has the Hawk's Nest in the background. As expected the critical rating by the film general viewer is never going to be that great for this one. But I think the typical 1930s B-mystery fan will find it irresistible.

An American, who has inherited a stately British house, travels to the UK to take ownership of his new estate. What he finds though, are a group of shady individuals living in it, who are seemingly up to no good. Our hero then tries to get to the bottom of this mysterious situation.

House of Secrets is another in the seemingly endless cycle of 30's mystery films. I found it all-in-all to be one of the more enjoyable ones, as there are quite a few plot threads going on, so the film never drags. When it comes to old creaky Poverty Row movies you do have to keep your expectations in check, as these old flicks do have definite limitations. This one does have many of the deficits of these pictures – flat dialogue, a lack of suspense and a ridiculous plot – but it at least tries to keep us entertained throughout with plenty of characters and plot avenues. So overall, as these films go, this one's not too bad at all.