Friday, June 22, 2018

The Mystery Train (1931)

This drama is book-ended by train perils. It stars Hedda Hopper as Miriam, a near-bankrupt businesswoman who needs to marry a daughter off to a rich young man to get her hands on his inheritance. Unfortunately she doesn't have one...

Then after a train crash she comes across a young girl called Joan (Marceline Day) who has been wrongly convicted of a crime and now on the run. Miriam makes Joan her "niece" and targets the young man for marriage.

Luckily Joan and the rich young man Ronald (Nick Stuart) fall in love without any more schemes by Miriam. However Joan doesn't want to go through with the plan but Miriam threatens her...

It is an interesting and charming little film which ends with another railway adventure. Some of the dialogue and acting is a little stilted but the film flows nicely. The railway scenes are very well done.