The Body Vanished (1939) Online

A snappy, rather amusing little murder mystery courtesy of the unknown-to-me Venture Films. It should be noted that THE BODY VANISHED clocks in at a mere 46 minute running time, which means that it has little time to faff around and instead gets on with telling an involving if rather predictable type of storyline.

The setting is a rural village and the mystery involves a country house where a body was discovered by the butler before disappearing. Thankfully, a visiting police detective and his journalist friend happen to be in the area and decide to investigate the crime themselves, and they soon discover a rather complicated plot which I won't go into here.

What I liked most about THE BODY VANISHED is the plentiful humour, which gives this film a lightness of touch, a quality that others from the era lack. There are no less than three comic characters in support; the dumb village policeman, the flustered journalist, and the old yokel wants his tricycle back. They certainly give this mystery a lively edge, and Anthony Hulme's lead is pretty good too.

Despite a short run time this is a breezy, effective British mystery. A Scotland Yard Inspector (Anthony Hulme) is on holidays with his friend, a newspaper reporter. The two come into a small village for rest and refreshments before continuing their holiday. Their peace is disturbed when a villager runs into the local pub declaring the owner of a nearby mansion has been murdered.

The two quickly journey to the mansion and find that there is no corpse to suggest a murder. The local authority in charge of the investigation is not up to the task, prompting the Scotland Yard man to stick around. Hulme's first goal is to learn if a murder actually occurred. There are enough clues present to suggest this is so, so now the detective turns his attention to finding the corpse.

Step by step, Hulme first finds the corpse, then he unveils the motive for murder and ultimately the killer. All nicely done against a backdrop of eccentric rural characters.

While this film clocks in at a brief 46 minutes, that fact shouldn't be held against it. There's certainly no padding here - it moves along quite well. A Scotland Yard inspector and a newspaper reporter are traveling on vacation, and come upon a murder without a corpse. A bumbling local bobby provides comic relief that's not too overdone, and a lovely young woman floats in and out of the plot. Don't expect Christie quality in the story line, but by 1939, they had learned to keep the plot moving, and avoid the talkie-ness of the early 1930s movies. You won't find a lot or red herrings to keep you wondering, but if you let the story come to you, you may find it quite enjoying. I watched it on Youtube, and consider it a well spent hour.

A Scotland Yard detective Rodney Paine and his newspaper reporter friend Pip Piper arrive at a country inn intent on a quiet holiday with a spot of fishing but they get involved in a local crime where it appears a man has been murdered... but no one can find the body. The body of a local taxi driver is found however. The detective ferrets out the truth with the aid of the local copper and some skilful deduction.

It is a short film at 46 minutes and the ending is a bit rushed but it certainly entertains with lively dialogue and good performances. Anthony Hulme is charming as the detective and C. Denier Warren over enthusiastic as the reporter. Played for comedy as well as mystery it works very well. There is a nice running gag with a three wheel bicycle.

This film has all the hallmarks of a quota quickie.Cheap sets,actors barely heard of movement of the camera between actors to save on close ups and master shots.Of course there is also a murder.The problem is that as there are so few characters it is a relatively simple task to work out who is the murder,so there is very little tension.However it has to be said that the director keeps the action going at a brisk pace.After all he only has 46 minutes with which to tell the tale.So by and large it is reasonably entertaining and doesn't outlast its welcome.According to Quinlan this film was not generally released.Given the fact that its BBFC certificate is shown at the beginning of the copy in my possession it is more likely that it was never reviewed.