Shadows on the Stairs (1941)

hyped garbage

How sad is this?

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This little mystery is great fun, and zips along familiar cinematic paths with professional skill, all the Warner technicians called into play to fashion a quickie "B" mystery with some of the best of the character actors around, and one new guy, Turhan Bey, who was still wet behind the ears, but managed to be "clever and cunning" and craftily mysterious.From the opening shots on a foggy wharf, with a mysterious large box hoisted off as ship and into a truck, the extremely mobile camera transports us quickly to an English boarding house crammed with lamps and antimacassars and ferns and portraits and zooms from upstairs to downstairs and in and out of doors as suspects in a crime skulk about and share concerns and accusations with mild hysteria lurking just below their civilized surfaces.But this is not a serious film; it is a fast-paced gem full of strange relationships, a murder or two, folks running about in disguises, and, at last, a clueless police force showing up as things get out of hand, a couple of bodies in locked upstairs rooms. I was never bored, was often amused, had a devil of a time attempting to pin down who-done-it, and much enjoyed the offbeat characters written into the script. Would that much of today's major films had the virtues of succinctness!

What a wonderful little movie! I love "discovering" movies like this. Shadows on the Stairs is one of those old, dark house mysteries that I enjoy so much. In this one, there are some strange things going on in Mrs. Armitage's boarding house - lots of mysterious comings and goings in the middle of the night, servants that go missing, and, now, a murder. Even though I guessed whodunit about half way through, in a movie like this, that doesn't really matter. And the twist at the end only added to the fun. The cast is fantastic and is primarily responsible for making Shadows on the Stairs work. Frieda Inescort as Mrs. Armitage, Heather Angel as Mrs. Armitage's daughter Sylvia, Lumsden Hare as the Inspector, and Paul Cavanagh as tenant and victim Joseph Reynolds really stand out. But my favorite performance has to be Mary Field as the spinsterly Miss Snell. Every scene she's in is a real hoot! Technically, the movie is workmanlike - about the best you can expect from a low budget 40s era movie. The script is tight with some good lines and moments for all the actors. While it's obvious that Shadows on the Stairs was originally a play (most of the action takes place on the second floor landing/hallway), this isn't necessarily a negative, just an observation. I suppose my biggest complaint would be the film's short runtime. At 64 minutes, there's not enough time to really flesh out some of the details and characters. Regardless, I'm rating this one a strong 6/10. Very nice.

Residents of a boarding house become suspects when one of the owners is murdered, the maid goes missing, and a mysterious easterner is involved in shady dealings. Romantic triangles, smuggled boxes, and a strange veiled lady complicate the plot.Average whodunit, very much in the light-hearted style of the time. There's the amateur sleuth, the ingénue, the comical cops, and a collection of sinister and not-so-sinister types. Unfortunately, the direction lacks imagination or style. The dense, talky script is filmed in pedestrian fashion adding little to the stage play origin. Some suspense builds in generic fashion as we wonder who killed Joe. However, trying to cram the many story subplots into an hour's format squanders narrative focus, thus weakening suspense. Heather Angel as the ingénue Sylvia adds much needed spark, while Mary Field as the spinsterish Miss Snell manages a degree of pathos. The unusual ending is, I think, a matter of taste. All in all, as a mystery, the programmer doesn't live up to its opening scene, but might do for a rainy night.

With a cast like this, a B-movie mystery just can't miss. But first you must skip over the juvenile leads, both male and female, and look beyond them to the talented, polished and very-experienced supporting cast.Frieda Inescort, past her girlish good-looks stage, gives an outstanding performance as the duplicitous, cheating landlady of the boarding house where the murder takes place. Turhan Bey, then a young actor of considerable skill with an already notable acting history, plays another ethnic role-- the sort in which he was most typecast- that of the mysterious "easterner" --turban and all.Veteran actors Paul Cavanagh and Miles Mander round out this superb cast. You may recognize both from many 1940's supporting roles; Mander was also a director of early silents.Beware of nay-sayers who are always trying to compare films of this era with today's output-- Phrases like "it does (or doesn't) show it's age" or "it does (or doesn't) hold up today" are meaningless when viewing films of this genre. In fact, such comparisons are boring and tedious.This is a fun low budget effort, with an able cast, a crazy plot-line (why not?), and a few hysterical scenes (like the boarder who won't talk to the police because she's lost her false teeth).Recommended. Don't miss it.