The House of a Thousand Candles (1936)
The story of diplomatic courier Tony Carleton, who's been entrusted with a secret message vital to the cause of International peace. En route to Geneva by train, Tony is drugged by sexy cabaret dancer Raquel, who promptly steals the message -- only to be murdered by sinister master spy Sebastian, owner of a posh gambling casino known as The House of a Thousand Candles.
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Simply A Masterpiece
Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
There's a spy ring going on in this high-class casino that leads to murder, robbery and glamorous intrigue. Phillip Holmes ("An American Tragedy") and Mae Clarke (Cagney's "grapefruit" girl) are the young lovers who hold "the future of Europe" in their hands as they come across the ring strictly by accident. Irving Pichel ("Dracula's Daughter") is a memorable villain with a large supporting cast including Rosita Moreno (an obvious take on Mata Hari), Mischa Auer and Hedwiga Reicher (as a spooky housekeeper). Pleasant to look at with its art deco sets (pretty impressive for a Republic film!) and fast moving, it's all over in less than an hour.
I bought this title from Hollywoodsattic.com recently, for a not-unreasonable price. I am a big fan of the original book by Meredith Nicholson, and I was very disappointed to find that this film had NOTHING to do with the original storyline. The only thing taken from the book was the title. But the opening credits state "from the novel by Meredith Nicholson". There was a silent version made in 1915, and judging from the characters' names, it does follow the original story. This 1936 version is a rather cheesy early WWII spy drama. I am no film critic, but wow, the bad acting really jumped off the screen and grabbed me by the throat on this one!