Monday, April 15, 2019

Mrs. Pym of Scotland Yard (1940)

The deaths of two women in mysterious circumstances and no apparent cause forces Scotland Yard into extreme measures: appointing a female detective for the case. Amid much late 1930s misogyny Mrs Pym (Mary Clare) and her sidekick Shott (Edward Lexy) get on with the case.

Both murdered women attended the same seances and left all their money to the a psychic club led by Professor Mencken (Anthony Ireland) and his assistant Miss Bell (Irene Handl) so there is some cause for suspicion...

Meanwhile rich industrialist Frank Wood (Vernon Kelso) seems very keen for his devoted niece Maraday (Janet Johnson) to attend the seances despite her fiance's (Nigel Patrick) scepticism and she seems to the next to be targeted. How is this all connected and can Mrs Pym solve it before she is kicked off the case?

It is all gloriously breezy hokum with plenty of 1930s mysticism and nonsense. The story itself is ridiculous though the method of murder is certainly innovative. It shouldn't be taken very seriously then it can be truly enjoyed.