Menace (1934) Online

Ray Milland is badgered into playing a game of bridge in British East Africa instead of managing his dam during a storm. When the dam bursts, he crashes his plane on purpose. His unseen brother, whom the authorities know to be cuckoo, blames the bridge players. He threatens to kill them all and disappears. A year later, the proposed victims are in an isolated house in Santa Barbara with some other folks when the murderer strikes. Will they discover the murderer before he kills them all?

Of course, you'd think there would be a picture, or at least a description of this maniac for the authorities and the people who are frightened they will be killed. No. There's a good reason for that, but it's never mentioned; it would turn this one-hour B movie into a twenty-minute short.

Director Ralph Murphy uses all the Dark House mystery convention except for the one where the detective sits everyone down and explains what happens. It's one of those mysteries where anyone could turn out to be the murderer, and the explanation at the end seemed thin to me. Still, the mood is creepy, and the actors are competent, with Henrietta Crosman delightful as the old and forthright lady.

Here is a tidy little film from the early 30s which has some nice touches in its 60 minute run time.

A young Ray (Raymond) Milland is involved in dam building in Africa and takes some time off (against his will) to attend a party. When bad weather strikes, he decides to fly his plane back to the dam site, just in time to see a flood destroy his work and his sister's home as well. Distraught, he commits suicide by diving the plane into the ground.

Flash forward several years and another party is in progress, involving the same participants. Milland's brother, swearing revenge and confined to a mental institution, has escaped. A note is found which warns the partygoers that he will have his revenge at last. The question then becomes........which one of the extraneous guests is the homicidal brother (no one knows what he looks like)? You'll guess who it is fairly quickly although red herrings abound.

The film packs a lot of story into such a short run time but moves right along. Fun viewing for the 1930s film buff.

This is a very interesting film, but it should've been longer! The beginning, which leads up to the hero's death, seems to go on FOREVER (altho, it's only 15 mins). The rest of the film (about 45 mins) is an EXTREMELY well-done mystery; you won't guess who the murderer is until the very end. However, the "mystery" part of the film is much too "hurried" and things happen too fast, the end result is that you don't have time to piece together the clues. If they would've added another 30 mins (or so) to this film, and slowed down the pace, it would've been an EXQUISITE film! As it stands, it's not bad, but the action is so fast, that you might have to see it several times to understand it all!

When blonde contract star Carole Lombard balked at some of the programmer assignments she was handed by her superiors there was another blonde starlet who was eager to prove herself. Blonde Gertrude Michael with her aristocratic profile and Alabama accent was given her chance with a couple of Lombard rejects - "The Notorious Sophie Lang" and "Menace". Gertrude got the glamour treatment from Paramount and it's interesting that the make up artists tried to make her look as much like Lombard as possible.

"Menace" is a fabulously tight (at 58 minutes) mystery that even the conservative "New Yorker" quoted "it ranks several notches higher than the average murder film". The film opens in Kenya with a bored trio (Gertrude Michael, Paul Cavanagh and Berton Churchill) persuading mining engineer (Ray Milland) to leave his post at a dam and fly down to join them for bridge!!! He leaves despite protests when a storm breaks out and witnesses a terrible tragedy from his plane....

Two years later the three (who have been receiving death threats from Milland's insane brother) find themselves together in a remote but lavish house in Santa Barbara... Suddenly tonight is the night for murder!! But what's a murder without some odd ball suspects, so before the day is out several strangers have converged on the house. First is Skinner, the new butler (as Berton Churchill says "we're about to be murdered and you hire a new butler"!!) - Halliwell Hobbes must have had the time of his life in this part, instantly creating suspicion with his worried looks and askance glances, he suddenly proves himself a crack shot!! Next is Helen's niece (Arletta Duncan) who brings along a gentleman friend who actually does have a similar look to Ray Milland!! Then there is Henrietta Crossman, an old dowager from next door who has always wanted to look over the house!! Lights go off, phone wires are cut, an ornamental knife disappears and suddenly the killing starts in earnest. And within the last 5 minutes everyone seems to reveal themselves until the last few seconds when the lunatic is revealed!!

Credit for the movie's effectiveness and tightness of script can go to unsung director Ralph Murphy - to lovers of pre-code he was responsible for some nifty little dramas including "70,000 Witnesses"(1932), "The Notorious Sophie Lang" and the really splendid "Golden Harvest" from 1933. The writer was Phillip MacDonald, a British crime writer whose career seemed to be on a real roll, late 1920s/early 1930s. He went to Hollywood in 1931 and was one of the first writers to tackle a serial killer theme in the novel "X vs Rex" (1933).

Very Recommended.