The Rogues' Tavern (1936)

You won't be disappointed!

Excellent but underrated film

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Weak plot, uninspired staging coupled with erratic performances and dumb dialogue (pretty much every time Woodbury opens her mouth, no offence intended to Woodbury herself) result in a dull and dreary mystery concerning a group of shady characters lured to a remote inn by an unknown assailant who has plans to pick them off, one by one. Detective and wife-to-be duo (the likable Ford and Pepper) find themselves unwittingly part of the conspiracy, and try to piece together the who-dunnit.Clichéd and unimaginative, it's not awful, but it lacks suspense and atmosphere, while the plot is pretty thin on detail. Ford seems assured and he has some of the better dialogue with Pepper, as is sidekick, while the sultry Woodbury as a clairvoyant unfortunately receives no such favours from her puerile doomsday prophecies ("we're all doomed, I can sense it", "I knew this would happen" etc etc) and those 'look of terror' cut-aways that are consistently about twenty-four frames too long.It's not quite the old dark house cliché as one reviewer alluded, but there is a surprise ending and an unusual murder weapon featured. Unlikely to cause any palpitations, but it's only 68 minutes of your time, all the same.

First of all, this seems like a film from 1930, not 1936. It is creakier than the floors of those abandoned houses in the country I used to explore as a kid. It also has a plot that had been done better even in the creakiest of silents and with much better scripts. Even the Tod Slaughter grand guignole melodramas of the British cinema were far more interesting than this. The cast isn't bad, but the material they are given is preposterous. Joan Woodbury is interesting as a card reader, while Barbara Pepper (best known as Mrs. Ziffel on "Green Acres") comes off alright, although at times the changes in photographic angles makes her look like a different character. Poor Clara Kimball Young has probably one of the hammiest moments in films like this; She went all of a sudden from subtlety to acting that reminded me of Dwight Frye in "Dracula". There are more red herrings in this film than any other that aren't even remotely intelligent. The appearance of the inventor in the spooky glasses at the end is one of them that just comes out of left field. Remember Truman Capote's tirade in "Murder By Death" about the characteristics of the famous mystery writer's books that he hated? Well, they are all here. In the film's credit, there are some great angles here and there of the camera looking down on the characters showing their horror of their impending fate, but it's not enough to hide the ridiculousness of the methods the killer uses and its revelation. For the actual killer to utilize the method of killing used, it would take a great deal more strength than that person has. Otherwise, it's more of a Shari Lewis puppet show. You'll see what I mean if you watch this film, which is fortunately short enough to get through. Stick with "The Old Dark House" and a few others (like "The Cat and the Canary", and even PRC's "Fog Island") which are much more interesting than this.

As the other writer said, this is a "borderline Old House" film, but I feel that he under-rated it. The business about a "mad dog" doing all the killing is very unusual. Despite what he says, the "closeups of Joan Woodbury" are only done ONCE or TWICE. She is the "mystic" who is constantly predicting death to all present, and the closeups of her eyes are supposed to lend to the eeriness of the film. A VERY intersting film, if a bit melodramatic in parts! Check it out!Norm

A hard to find movie that was originally distributed by Puritan Pictures. This is a borderline Old Dark House movie. It takes place at the Red Rock Tavern, which is an old dark hotel; there's a thunderstorm & three murders, & the lights do go out, but no secret passageways. Nice humorous touches, especially in the interchanges between Wallace Ford's character & his fiancee, played by Barbara Pepper (who has her Mae West expressions down pat). Joan Woodbury plays a strange character with many premonitions; the director seems fascinated by Joan, & the camera often isolates her in unusual closeups that lose sight of the rest of the cast & the backdrops. A watchable film, especially for Old Dark House fans, but not a great one by any means. I rate it 4/10.