Tod Slaughter made his name starring as the villains in revivals of hoary Victorian melodramas. In 1935 he enacted one of his most popular roles, that of the actual historical murderer, Squire William Corder, for the screen in MURDER IN THE RED BARN.
This is a compelling film. It has the feel and resonance of a folk tale. Despite, or perhaps because of, the all out melodramatic presentation, it is more viscerally involving than many a smoother and more elegantly acted story. The plot has the bite of veracity. Supposedly wealthy Squire William Corder seduces the young and foolish Maria Martin. Heavily in debt due to gambling losses, Corder arranges a marriage to an ugly but rich woman. When Maria informs him she is pregnant and begs him to do the right thing, he promises marriage to trick her into meeting him at the remote red barn, where he murders her and buries her body under the barn's dirt floor.
Of course Corder gets his just deserts due to the intervention of Maria's loutish but honest young gypsy lover, her judgmental but regretful father, and a nosy dog. The old fashioned, creaky style of the movie works to its advantage. The murder during a violent thunderstorm and the nighttime discovery of the body are wonderfully atmospheric. Tod Slaughter, of course, dominates the action. He is beyond hammy but try to take your eyes off him while he's on the screen, taking villainy into a whole different dimension. MURDER IN THE RED BARN is a good introduction to Slaughter and I plan to seek out more of his work.
This is a compelling film. It has the feel and resonance of a folk tale. Despite, or perhaps because of, the all out melodramatic presentation, it is more viscerally involving than many a smoother and more elegantly acted story. The plot has the bite of veracity. Supposedly wealthy Squire William Corder seduces the young and foolish Maria Martin. Heavily in debt due to gambling losses, Corder arranges a marriage to an ugly but rich woman. When Maria informs him she is pregnant and begs him to do the right thing, he promises marriage to trick her into meeting him at the remote red barn, where he murders her and buries her body under the barn's dirt floor.
Of course Corder gets his just deserts due to the intervention of Maria's loutish but honest young gypsy lover, her judgmental but regretful father, and a nosy dog. The old fashioned, creaky style of the movie works to its advantage. The murder during a violent thunderstorm and the nighttime discovery of the body are wonderfully atmospheric. Tod Slaughter, of course, dominates the action. He is beyond hammy but try to take your eyes off him while he's on the screen, taking villainy into a whole different dimension. MURDER IN THE RED BARN is a good introduction to Slaughter and I plan to seek out more of his work.