Melodrama is often associated with noir. One leading example is A. W. Fitzgerald's old Victorian barnstormer, appropriately titled Maria Marten or the Murder in the Red Barn, first filmed with Fitzgerald himself in the lead, way back back in 1902, and re-made by Maurice Elvey in 1913. Tod Slaughter had himself such a grand time in this one on the stage in the 1920s and 1930s, it was a natural for his 1935 film debut in which he was joined by an all-star cast led by the lovely Sophie Stewart in the short-lived title role and Eric Portman as a Romany darkly handsome hero of sorts before he acquired the condescending speech and mannerisms he affected in later roles. Slaughter's acting is so over the top that a Prologue was added to let the audience know that what they were about to see was a stage play. But as it obviously made no difference to Slaughter's popularity, the device was dropped in his subsequent movies.
