The investigation begins in earnest and the usual collection of stereotypes (haughty matriarch (Clara Bandick), nervous young man (Leslie Fenton), flighty maid (Alice White), sinister butler (Brandon Hurst) et cetera are under investigation. Is Kennedy's wife Esme (Aileen Pringle) the culprit? Luckily criminologist Philip Montrose (Hale Hamilton) is on hand in the best traditions of Golden Age type detective stories to help the hapless police out...
The film is a nicely done whodunnit, if rather unoriginal dark house mystery. Many films with similar storylines were made in the 1930s, if one lesson is to be learned from all of these films is that its not a good idea to agree to being shot by a gun supposedly loaded with blanks! The pacing is good and the performances acceptable, not all early talkies were hamstrung by awkward pauses.
