I have to say I'll always enjoy a Charles Laughton movie, but you have to admit, pictures from the early days of film almost always laid it right out there for the viewer as if one couldn't put two and two together. In this case, the murder of young Medland (Ray Milland) - it's OK for the viewer to be in on the little secret, but gee, could it have been any more obvious to anyone in the Marble home to figure out what happened? A newly dug up back yard wouldn't have raised too much suspicion now would it? Or how about that great big old bottle of cyanide sitting on the book shelf in plain view, with books discussing the subject of poisoning by cyanide the only reading material in the house? You had to know that William Marble (Laughton) wasn't going to get away with this one, so the intrigue was in how the story would get you there. I think with a little more creativity, old Marble could probably have gone for a two-fer with Mrs. Collins (Verree Teasdale) if you know what I mean. Instead, poor Mrs. Marble (Dorothy Peterson) had to agonize her way through thoughts of extortion, adultery and suicide if her husband ever proved to be unfaithful. I was sad to see her go.
Probably more unbelievable to me than the whole idea of murdering his own nephew was Marble's ability to turn the boy's wallet into a fortune of thirty thousand pounds - now there was the real mystery. In every other aspect of his life, Laughton's character seemed to be a real loser, pushing his wife around and completely unbearable to his daughter Winnie (Maureen O'Sullivan). Who would have guessed that the line of BS he gave to Medland might have made them both rich.
Check this one out if you can get your hands on it; I happened to catch it on Turner Classics last night and it made for an entertaining hour and a half. There's always a good chance you'll pick up some neat trivia from one of the film hosts on Turner; like the studio being pressured to remove direct references to cyanide in case it might give ideas to potential husband/killers in the future. They certainly didn't foresee the advent of the internet a mere seventy years later, where you could learn everything you ever wanted to know to commit murder and mayhem of your very own.
Probably more unbelievable to me than the whole idea of murdering his own nephew was Marble's ability to turn the boy's wallet into a fortune of thirty thousand pounds - now there was the real mystery. In every other aspect of his life, Laughton's character seemed to be a real loser, pushing his wife around and completely unbearable to his daughter Winnie (Maureen O'Sullivan). Who would have guessed that the line of BS he gave to Medland might have made them both rich.
Check this one out if you can get your hands on it; I happened to catch it on Turner Classics last night and it made for an entertaining hour and a half. There's always a good chance you'll pick up some neat trivia from one of the film hosts on Turner; like the studio being pressured to remove direct references to cyanide in case it might give ideas to potential husband/killers in the future. They certainly didn't foresee the advent of the internet a mere seventy years later, where you could learn everything you ever wanted to know to commit murder and mayhem of your very own.