Shadows on the Stairs (1941)

A sometimes-strange sometimes-sweet murder mystery set in a London boarding house. The house run by Stella Armitage (Frieda Inescort) is full of interesting characters including spiv Joseph Reynolds (Paul Cavanagh), Indian student/rebel Ram Singh (Turhan Bey), playwright Hugh Bromilow (Bruce Lester) and the sullen maid Lucy (Phyllis Barry).

Stella is having an affair with Joseph behind the back of her husband Tom (Miles Mander). Though Joseph is also knocking off Lucy. If that's not enough he is also involved in mysterious schemes with Ram Singh (who also gets attacked by another Indian in his room and stabs him). Then Joseph is found dead, the Inspector (Lumsden Hare) begins his investigation, though other bodies then turn up. There are plenty of suspects but the actual culprit is a surprise. But the real ending is an even bigger surprise.

So it's sometimes-sweet, (though if I explained why i wrote that if would spoil the ending). It is a fairly light mystery but rocks along at a good rate of knots. It is pretty strange, but in a good way.

Charlie Chan's Secret (1936)

Estranged son Allen Colby (Jerry Miley) is returning to his family after several years and being presumed dead. Not good news to some of his family members who have been spending his inheritance... including on psychic research. Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) discovers Colby survived a shipwreck but at a seance Colby turns up dead, recently stabbed.

So who killed Allen Colby, well there are plenty of suspects of course including his aunt Henrietta (Henrietta Crosman) who wants to continue the psychic research, Fred (Edward Trevor) and Janice (Astrid Allwyn) who have been living off the inheritance and the strange caretaker Ulrich (Egon Brecher) who had a grudge against Allen. Or is it the psychic research Professor (Arthur Edmund Carewe) who is anxious to continue the funding? Charlie begins his investigation in a creepy old house full of hidden passages, moving panels and various oddities.

A highly entertaining Golden Age type movie, Charlie Chan is without any of his sons in this film so the humour and buffoonery is lower than usual but the mystery is good. Plenty of pseudo-Chinese "proverbs" too.

British Intelligence (1940)

A spy is betraying British military secrets to the Germans during the First World War. The top British agent Frank Bennett (Bruce Lester) is sent to capture the German spy Strendler but is betrayed and ends up hospitalised. He is nursed back to health by a pretty nurse Helene (Margaret Lindsay)... who is in fact another top German spy!

Now using the identity of a refugee known as "Frances Hautry" she is sent to London to infiltrate the home of Bennett's father Arthur (Holmes Herbert), a cabinet minister. The butler Valdar (Boris Karloff) turns out to be another German spy!

The head of British intelligence Yeats (Leonard Mudie) already suspects Helene... and Valdar turns out to be a double agent. But Frank Bennett turns up at his family home and recognises his ex-nurse things get even more complicated... especially when Valdar tells Helene that he is Strendler!

Although sometimes thinly veiled propaganda this is an exciting war and espionage film. The plot is sometimes confusing when you wonder exactly which side some of the characters are on. The film ends with a zeppelin raid, any film with zeppelins is great!

Before Morning (1933)

So Elsie (Lora Baxter) is in a relationship with Jim (Russell Hicks) but when she tells him she is engaged to Horace from Detroit (Blaine Cordner) he falls ill and dies (amusingly while Elsie is singing down the telephone). Horace agrees to help Elsie dispose of Jim's body and keep the police out of it.

They decide to use a sanitarium run by a Dr Gruelle (Leo Carrillo) and make it look like Jim died there. However Dr Gruelle turns out to be a bit of a cad who tells Elsie that Jim was murdered by poison and tried to blackmail her as the poisoner...

The film was based on a Broadway play (not quite the success as stated in the credits) and most of the actors were from the stage. It's probably why most of the acting is a bit off and somewhat over the top. It is a bit of a strange film but not without some good points and i'm not talking about the wardrobe malfunctions...

Some of the acting is so odd it is compelling. If treated as an over the top melodrama this film kind of works. The twist and conclusion are worth the slog early on.

Murder on Flight 502 (1975)

A rather low-budget rip-off of the Airport type of movie, an ensemble of stereotypes (retired couple, man with a secret (Fernando Lamas), alcoholic writer (Polly Bergen), fading rock star (Sonny Bono) et cetera) are stuck on a plane where bad things happen...

The plane is a flight from New York to London piloted by Captain Larkin (Robert Stack). When the plane is already en route NY airport security chief Robert Davenport (George Maharis) received a letter warning him that murders will take place on Flight 502...

Luckily there is a police officer Detective Myerson (Hugh O'Brian) is aboard and begins to look for the possible murderer with the help of the captain and Davenport. There are a number of suspects but the captain and the chief flight attendant (Farrah Fawcett) try and keep everything under control but when the murders finally begin things quickly unravel...

Nothing about this film is that original at all but the cast ensemble is good and they make the most of what is a fairly low budget film. The film has some good twists and certainly is entertaining enough though might be a bit of a struggle on the long-haul.