Just got to see this rare film, which was a remake of the 1929 film directed by Tod Browning. This one has all the nice polish of an MGM film, which is an asset. What is peculiar is why the film was made at all. It is a simple b-movie, and a remake of a pretty forgotten story. The previous version was a stilted early talkie, highlighted by the appearance of Bela Lugosi as the detective (pre-Dracula). Also, strangely, Holmes Herbert repeats his supporting role from the earlier film, which is a largely insignificant part.
The music score is very good, underlying and adding to the mystery mood. It is not quite as atmospheric as the earlier film, but it is still sufficient. Henry Daniell is quite good as the obsessed friend of the dead man, who ends up dead himself. The séances are handled pretty weakly. It's just a stagnant shot of the room in the dark. I actually closed my eyes to rest them while the scenes went on, and just listened. Lewis Stone is solid as the detective, coming off as a bit more pushy than usual for him. Overall, it is interesting to see an MGM film like this. They didn't really delve into horror or mystery and considering this was made in the horror ban years of 1937-8, it really stands out in their catalog. It's worth the time of any 30s mystery buffs and if you've seen a lot of poverty row ones, this is a good contrast for its' production values. 6/10
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