Mystery of the White Room (1939) User Reviews

Dr. Death Reporting for Surgery

[Mike-764 · 7/10 · 28 July 2007]

Dr. Finley Morton is murdered when the lights go out during a surgical operation and the suspects are numerous. Dr. Kennedy (Morton's nephew) was considered for the position of Dr. Morton's assistant until he refused to perform an operation because of cowardice. Dr. Clayton, who went and performed the operation, had a row with Morton for disobedience when following hospital regulations. Also, Dr. Thornton, who was formerly chief surgeon at the hospital until an operation performed by Morton left him without the use of his right arm. The only clue that Sergeant Spencer has lies with the deaf janitor Tony, who caught a glimpse of the murderer until a jar of acid was thrown in his face blinding him, but Dr. Clayton (who is Spencer's chief suspect) decides that the corneas from Dr. Morton can be used for Tony giving him the chance to see and identify the murderer, that is if the murderer doesn't prevent the operation. Decent movie that fills out it's just under one hour running time with few slow spots. The only thing that hurts the movie is Tom Dugan playing amateur detective, but Jackson's responses to Dugan's help are humorous. The acting is decent with the entire cast playing the murder movie stereotypes, and the plot doesn't really give too much away keeping the viewer in suspense. Rating, 7 out of 10.

Who killed the chief surgeon in the OR during a black out?

[snicewanger · 7/10 · 20 July 2015]

This is an entertaining murder mystery from Universal Studios "Crime Club" series of the late 1930's.Basted on Dr James G Edwards mystery novel "Murder in the Surgery", it was the eighth of the Crime Club films. Rugged Bruce Cabot and pretty Helen Mack are appealing leads in a cast the includes old vets Frank Reicher and Addison Richards. Thomas E Jackson as the Detective Sargent investigator played police detectives so often in movies that he had his own personal badge.Joan Woodbury was a familiar on screen face at the time and the rest of the cast knew their way around a B film.Tom Dugan and Mabel Todd provide the obligatory if not irritating comedy relief. Director Otis Garrett worked as a film editor for Universal, the Crime Club movies were about the only films he directed. He died in 1941 at the age of 35.

Mystery of the White Room was probably the best of the Crime Club pictures. They were made to be at the bottom half of a Universal double feature. Oddly enough this movie was included in the original Shock Theater package the Universal Studios offered television stations across the country in 1957. It was marketed as a horror film rather than a mystery. Certainly not brilliant film making but an enjoyable way to pass an hour.

An actual whodunnit, unlike most "mysteries"

[SpaceComics · 7/10 · 11 November 2003]

I've seen hundreds of old mysteries, and most turn out to be silly detective yarns where you know who the killer is from the start. This is a well-written exception where the clues gradually lead to the revelation of the killer at the end. Any of a variety of characters in a hospital could be the killer. The script balances suspense, drama, and humor to lead through some interesting plot twists to the inevitable conclusion. This film was a Crime Club selection. Bruce Cabot is probably best known as Driscoll in King Kong. Coincidentally Frank Reicher had a role in that too.

One for Bruce Cabot and Helen Mack's legion of fans!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 31 January 2014]

Although it runs only 58 minutes, this is one of those mystery thrillers that were not deemed complete by the studio (in this case, Universal) unless they were marred by some unfortunate "comedy" relief. One heartily wishes not only that director Otis Garrett and scriptwriter Alex Gottlieb had concentrated on the mystery itself, but that Tom Dugan and Mabel Todd had taken their shenanigans to some more appropriate movie. Fortunately, some of the action sequences are quite excitingly handled, but Otis Garrett's direction elsewhere is often dull and pedestrian. Nevertheless, the stars, Bruce Cabot, Helen Mack and Joan Woodbury give the film a sufficiently good profile to lift its rating to around seven out of ten.

This has all the makings for a good film but just never delivers!

[Daryl17 · 4/10 · 2 November 2003]

The film is of interest to me only because of Helen Mack. Otherwise, I would have never purchased the film. This film has a lot of interesting elements to make it a good mystery. However, someone really botched the story. There are lots of gaps in the logic that make the viewer totally confused. You can hardly wait to the end just to find out how they will tie up all the loose ends. They don't succeed very well. The characters are very good, but end up lacking some depth and connection with one another. The venue for the murders is a hospital, but the problem is you never see any patients. One key aspect of the story is about a patient who has to have a corneal implant. He has the implant done and the next day he can see. This was done to accomodate the outcome of the story, which takes place in a span of two days or so. This is so absurd that even an uneducated viewer would know that this is not possible.

As mentioned earlier, this could have been a good film, but the story just leaves good actors to struggle with poor material to work with. Watch the film if you are into nostalgia, but don't watch it for a good mystery.

Operation: Murder!

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 4 September 2018]

With a flick of a wrist, a doctor is dead in the middle of surgery, scalpel thrown and stuck in their back. The lights went out so nobody saw who did it. In the hospital storage room, an orderly's face is doused with acid by an unseen person so the scalpel can be stolen. Attempts on the orderly's life follow, and soon, the hospital is under lock and key so the killer can be found. Earlier, doctor Bruce Cabot and the murdered chief of surgery had words, so he is considered the top suspect, but nurse Helen Mack swears by his innocence. This minor little B murder mystery has some very tense moments, interrupted by the non-stop yapping of nurse Mabel Todd (who seems like she should be a patient in the psych ward) and ambulance driver Tom Dugan, funny in small doses, but obnoxious as it seems to go on and on, with Todd even insulting the police officers investigating the murder. The only thing that this succeeds in doing is showing the tense atmosphere of the medical world, with Cabot's character declining the opportunity to lead the surgery because of his own fears. Fortunately, at just under an hour, it doesn't overstay its welcome, except when Todd is on screen. If she was my nurse, I'd holler for Nurse Ratched!

Seen on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater in 1975

[kevinolzak · 9/10 · 28 May 2011]

1939's "Mystery of the White Room" was number 6 of the 7 Crime Club mysteries produced by Universal from 1937 to 1939, and one of the three included in the popular SHOCK! package of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50's. Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater aired it twice, on February 8 1975 (following 1969's "Crucible of Horror" and second feature 1939's "The Human Monster") and April 16 1977 (following 1956's "The Creature Walks Among Us"). Boasting as fine a 'B' cast as Universal could offer that year, Bruce Cabot stars as Dr. Bob Clayton, who conducts an emergency operation on another doctor's patient, supported by former chief surgeon Amos Thornton (Frank Reicher, reunited with Cabot after "King Kong"), against the strict hospital rules enforced by current chief surgeon Finley Morton (Addison Richards). The following morning, a different operation finds Morton himself stabbed to death with one of Thornton's stolen scalpels, during a brief blackout engineered from the basement. The unseen thief was spotted by janitor Frank Puglia, whose now blind condition can be averted by delicately transplanting the corneas of the late Dr. Morton (shades of 1944's "Dead Man's Eyes"), hoping that he will then be able to identify the culprit. Among the nurses are an excellent Helen Mack, Joan Woodbury, Constance Worth, and underrated comic relief blonde Mabel Todd, whose distinctive laugh could be adorable or irritating (or even both!). Roland Drew and Don Porter (billed last in his film debut) are suspected doctors, with Thomas E. Jackson ("Little Caesar") as the investigating detective, contributing several sharp rebukes of comic relief ambulance driver Tom Dugan, calling him "Useless" or "You with the face," or my favorite, "would you do me a favor? Go down to the morgue, tell 'em I said you're ready." At another point, Dugan wants to announce his theory to the detective, who says "not while I'm conscious!" An intimate moment between Bruce Cabot and adorable Helen Mack ends with her backing away from a passionate kiss with the memorable line, "is there a doctor in the house?" One thoroughly enjoyable whodunit not weighed down by its comedy, briskly paced at a fast moving 58 minutes. Appearing uncredited are Holmes Herbert as the hospital administrator, Byron Foulger as the coroner, and John Harmon as Pete, the fingerprint man. The next Crime Club would be the last, "The Witness Vanishes."