Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Rogues Tavern (1936)

In a large house in the middle of nowhere people are being bumped off on a stormy night. Yes its a dark house mystery and almost self-parody at times but undeniably entertaining.

Jimmy (Wallace Ford) and Marjorie (Barbara Pepper) are a couple of eloping detectives looking for a judge, instead they find a hotel run by Mrs Jamison (Clare Kimball Young) full of strange characters including somewhat over-the-top mystic Gloria (Joan Woodbury) and a man in a wheelchair (John Elliot) - though you if you've seen enough of these films you know he doesn't really need it...

The deaths soon begin to take place. A dog is blamed due to teeth marks on the victims but after some vain (and failed) attempts to shoot the dog Jimmy discovers the teeth marks are fake and to mask the real killer, a homo sapiens...

That isn't the only mystery in the house as several of the guests have been invited for an unknown purpose. The film has little in the way of originality but is a good watch with some sharp dialogue and genuine mystery that keeps you guessing. The film is a little shoddy at times, the entertainment sometimes unintentional.