Monday, April 2, 2018

The Body Vanished (1939)

A fun little quota quickie involving art theft and a murder (or not as the case turns out to be) in a country house (of course).

The film stars Anthony Paine as an Inspector from Scotland Yard who just happens to be around when a crime is committed, his friend C. Denier Warren is a reporter who of course wants the scoop. Ernest Sefton plays the local police sergeant who does his best to portray the dopey local law. The two latter characters provide the comic relief to Paine's smooth detective.

It does not have the most complicated of plots but has some interesting ideas all the same. A couple of red herrings are sprinkled throughout to keep you guessing (involving Wilfred Noy as the butler and Evelyn Foster as a wannabe secretary). The climax of the film takes place in an auction which is quite unusual. Not a bad little film at all.