UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Leofwine_draca DEATH FROM A DISTANCE is a US murder mystery made in 1935 and featuring a hardboiled cop teaming up with a female reporter. By teaming up I mean that he typically seems to lecture her around in a mildly sexist fashion while she sticks up for herself. The opening murder sequence is the best part of the film as it takes place in a planetarium during a lecture by an astronomer. A gun fires and an audience member lies dead, so the detective has to follow the clues and solve the mystery.This opening scene is reminiscent of Hitchcock and actually predates a similar moment in his version of THE 39 STEPS. Unfortunately the rest of the film is largely slow-paced and rather bloated with red herrings and the like. It's not the kind of film to engross you, rather the type of film to fall asleep to. The two main stars do their best but DEATH FROM A DISTANCE is a film that's dated more than anything else.

csteidler Death from a Distance features a murder at a planetarium. As most of the film's action takes place in the one large room, it's probably a good thing that the room contains a large telescope and a ceiling painted with stars, a setting unique enough to remain somewhat viewable for 70 minutes. The lead characters are not as unique—Russell Hopton is the police detective investigating, Lola Lane the girl reporter getting in his way. Hopton and Lane do their best to put some life into their roles, but the bits of witty banter they are given are somewhat few and far between.The other characters fare little better. Most lively is Lee Kohlmar as Professor Einfeld, who is supposedly one of the three greatest scientists in the world and is therefore rather unkempt and absent-minded but ultimately sharp enough to aid in solving the mystery. There are, of course, also a dumb assistant detective, a couple of scientists with shady pasts, and a curator. (By the way, Einfeld also speaks in a European accent and has a messy shock of hair. Ein-what?)The murder device is cleverly conceived, I have to say. However, the detective work and the uncovering of clues are all somewhat hazy. Ultimately, Death from a Distance lacks snap, but the mystery is at least deep enough to keep us watching until the end.

MartinHafer During a lecture at a planetarium, a man is murdered. However, despite this occurring in a room full of people, it isn't clear exactly who is responsible.This is a super-low budget film that isn't horrible, but it isn't particularly good either. Much of the fault for it being such a poor film are the result of poor writing (with a WAY over-complicated murder scheme), an annoying and clichéd character (Lola Lane playing a very stereotypical "pushy female reporter") and an overall lack of energy. In fact, as I watched the film, I kept found myself falling asleep because there wasn't much to interest me and the lack of incidental music made the film seem very static and subdued. As far as I am concerned, that was an hour of my life I wish I could have back! Amateurish but watchable--not exactly a glowing endorsement.

Ralph Michael Stein Marred on a DVD transfer by a poor soundtrack that makes some dialogue unintelligible, "Death from a Distance" is a 1935 B crime story that has some good acting along with the inevitable cliches that reflect the times.A doctor is shot to death during a planetarium lecture. The killer is in the room and the audience is there when the cops arrive, a wisecracking homicide lieutenant in charge. A pretty gal reporter tangles with the cop and her investigative skills are equal to her blatant flirting.In 71 minutes the story moves by small leaps and not great bounds to a clever uncovering of the killer. Some potted astronomical theory is central to solving the case.Every stereotype from that era is present: smart detective and dumb as dishwater detective, hardboiled city room editor and ambitious female reporter, gentle Viennese scientist and the "Hindu," a man with a past. And there's more.This movie won't make either the AMC or TCM channels, not in a century of retrospectives. It's available for as little as $5.99 and as a glance backwards into the time when the Hollywood studio giants co-existed with producers of second-rate features, "Death from a Distance" is a minor treat. But it's a treat nonetheless.6/10 (for its genre and period).