There is a lot of Warner's talent, including director Ray Enright, in this slow-moving RKO flick. Chester Morris is writing a book on a psychopathic murderer who warns his victims with an Ace of Spades, and murders them mysteriously at an appointed hour. He's on his way to meet criminologist Oscar Apfel for research, when Apfel is threatened and then murdered on an airplane. All the suspects get off in Louisiana, and it turns into an Old Dark House mystery, complete with a skeletal hands reaching around the drapes and a couple of dumb cops, played with no timing by Frank McHugh and Allen Jenkins.
With a promising cast that includes Henry Stephenson, Grant Mitchell and Virginia Howell as the inevitable mute housekeeper, it's surprisingly dull. You can skip this one.
With a promising cast that includes Henry Stephenson, Grant Mitchell and Virginia Howell as the inevitable mute housekeeper, it's surprisingly dull. You can skip this one.