Murder by Invitation (1941)

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

A rich old woman with an annoying chuckle invites her relatives over to her big house for a week, so that she can study them "just like a scientist studies rats in a laboratory." Her rationale is to determine which one of the relatives deserves her $3 million dollars when she dies. The light, overall tone of the film conveys the impression that the film was intended as a parody of murder mysteries.The protagonist is Bob White (Wallace Ford), a "famous columnist", who worms his way into the house, after a murder occurs. Eventually, an inept sheriff also shows up. So there's no famous detective or crime solver, like a Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes, and the story suffers because of that.I incorrectly guessed the identity of the killer, but I wasn't that drawn in to the story to begin with. There are too many suspects, and the script gives them little or no characterization. Absence of a well-known detective doesn't help, and neither does the lighthearted tone. The end provides a bit of interesting irony to the underlying theme.B&W photography is acceptable, I suppose, given the era. Scratchy sound effects and clearly audible static are annoying. Casting and acting are marginal. Background music is nondescript, manipulative, and in some scenes too loud.With its contrived, paint-by-numbers script, its barely passable visuals and audio, and its cheap sets, "Murder By Invitation" is not a movie I would care to watch again.

This is a comedy using the murder mystery genre as background. The main characters are a bit stiff - especially considering this was made in 1941 - but it's not a bad hour spent. The story revolves around old aunt Cassie, whose odd 'uh-heh' laugh is closer to caricature than character-defining. The newspaper columnist who serves as the detective in this film, is played by Wallace Ford. He and his secretary (?) and photographer play their stereotypical roles no better than the stereotypes you'd expect. The sheriff - presumably from New York somewhere, as that's where the court case was heard - sounds more like an Okie than an upstate New Yorker, and follows his own stereotype of the hayseed lawman, accent included. Of course, he's a buffoon as well, asking the newspaper columnist for advice at every turn.So we know the flaws. Still, this was a B movie, intended as filler, and that's how we should judge it. There's nothing about it that made me want to hit the stop button - unlike some stinkers - and for fans of 1930s mysteries, it's an acceptable detour into comedy. Not laugh out loud comedy, but light amusement. It's out of copyright, and I found it on a 5 CD collection Mystery and Murder: 25 Crime Classics at my library. So it was worth every penny I paid for it.

Talk about screwy films! "Murder By Invitation" almost takes first place! A daffy old lady, Aunt Cassie (a terrible performance by Sarah Padden who seems to be reading her lines off of cue cards) invites her greedy relatives to her country estate for the weekend and murders start to pop up all over the place. A reporter (Wallace Ford) and his secretary (Marian Marsh) arrive at the estate to get the scoop. Minerva Urecal (whom I usually like) overacts here as one of Aunt Cassie's relations. J. Arthur Young is totally offbeat as Trownbridge Montrose (Aunt Cassie's neighbor). Dave O'Brien is good, as usual, though as the estate's chauffeur. Zany dialog is almost unbelievable at times and Ford (although likable) is too old to be pretty Marsh's sweetheart boss. In spite of itself, "Murder By Invitation" is a film that works, although I don't quite know how!

Thsi film is one of those Old Dark House murder mystery films that Hollywood was so fond on in the 1940s. This B movie stars Wallace Ford as a popular newspaper columnist and Marian Marsh as his secretary/girlfriend.A rich old lady (Sarah Padden) is claimed to be insane by her family and is taken to court. The court declares her sane. Shrotly thereafter she invites all her family members to her mansion in upstate New York to spend the week so that she can watch over them to decide who to leave her $3 million estate. One by one family members are murdered, with the killer seemingly hiding and watching from hidden passageways that are throughout the house.A typical second feature film, this movie is somewhat enjoyable, but for those of you who are used to suspenseful spooky house movies, this is not what you are looking for. This movie is in the public domain and as such can be easily found on DVD and VHS.