Saturday 18 July 2015

Crimes at the Dark House - 1940 **

 
Tod Slaughter has always been one of those farcical, hammy actors that people remember for all the wrong reasons (a bit like Arthur Askey whom I find hilarious) but he doesn't seem to do himself any favours here, preferring to mince his performance up for all it's worth.
Slaughter appears as a convict who murders a wealthy gentleman and assumes his identity in order to inherit his large and luxurious estate in England. Once he is there, he plans to wed the heiress of the fortune, but when people begin to suspect them, he murders them immediately to keep his secret quiet. I found Slaughter to be too much in this, and the story didn't grip me in the slightest. I do apologise to Wilkie Collins profusely, but assume he would've probably been amazed at how badly his classic novel was converted to film.
 

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