Alice White wasn't getting too many second leads by 1934 and this movie is really boosted by her performance as zany Didi, an old flame of the hero's who is at the château to try to get her hands on a few thousand francs of his inheritance money. She is one of the many suspects?? who find themselves at the strange house when all the mysterious goings on occur. Which is not much - it is more comedy than mystery but it does have the beautiful Claire Dodd in a rare but welcome lead! She did get an opportunity of playing one of the "nicest" of nice girls, Della Street, in a couple of mid 1930s Perry Mason movies but really she was at her best playing venal, brittle society girls who for a short time gave the leading ladies (Joan Blondell, Fay Wray) plenty of headaches.
Dodd plays Julie Verlaine in this film, set in the world of rare books and fine arts, who is being forced to keep up the role of a confidence trickster by her unscrupulous partner (yes, no prizes for guessing it's Jack LaRue). He wants her to secure the Guttenberg bible from a young man who has inherited it from his uncle. Seems a lot of people in the Château are eager to get their hands on it as well - the questionable butler Martin (played by the sinister Osgood Perkins) who always seems to be on hand when things go bump in the night, the grumpy aunt, even the dithering executor. On the funny side there is the quirky George E. Stone as Armand, friend of the hero and who hates noises, squeaks and insects (his directions to Martin on how to dispose of some flies so they won't return, "You drive 2 miles north, 3 miles west" etc is funny).Funniest line goes to Didi who is trying to keep people out of the bathroom "what am I doing in here, oh waiting for the shower to stop so I can see a rainbow"!!
Keeping a close eye on things is Inspector Marotte played by the effervescent Ferdinand Gottschalk. Clive Hirschhorn in "The Universal Story" described it as a "dullsville thriller" and that says it perfectly - watch it for the solid supporting cast and of course Alice and Claire.
Dodd plays Julie Verlaine in this film, set in the world of rare books and fine arts, who is being forced to keep up the role of a confidence trickster by her unscrupulous partner (yes, no prizes for guessing it's Jack LaRue). He wants her to secure the Guttenberg bible from a young man who has inherited it from his uncle. Seems a lot of people in the Château are eager to get their hands on it as well - the questionable butler Martin (played by the sinister Osgood Perkins) who always seems to be on hand when things go bump in the night, the grumpy aunt, even the dithering executor. On the funny side there is the quirky George E. Stone as Armand, friend of the hero and who hates noises, squeaks and insects (his directions to Martin on how to dispose of some flies so they won't return, "You drive 2 miles north, 3 miles west" etc is funny).Funniest line goes to Didi who is trying to keep people out of the bathroom "what am I doing in here, oh waiting for the shower to stop so I can see a rainbow"!!
Keeping a close eye on things is Inspector Marotte played by the effervescent Ferdinand Gottschalk. Clive Hirschhorn in "The Universal Story" described it as a "dullsville thriller" and that says it perfectly - watch it for the solid supporting cast and of course Alice and Claire.