Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

MartinHafer This Monogram mystery has fallen into the public domain. In addition, this public domain version is only about 46 minutes long--most likely trimmed down in order to sell it to television (in order to fit the one hour time slot including commercials). Because of this, the full version (if it's available) might be a better or worse film--I just don't know.The film is about a famed 'moonstone' (not to be confused with the one from the Pokemon game). It's a huge and rare gem that has strange properties--it changes colors depending on the moon's phases! So what does the woman do who owns this super-valuable stone? Yep, she carries it around and shoves it under her pillow at night--even with the house full of house guests--one of whom has, in the past, been accused of jewel thefts and she knows it!!! Can anyone be THAT stupid? Well, in this contrived film, the answer is yes. Now the rest of the story isn't bad--but it's awfully easy to know who the thief is--so there isn't much mystery about this mystery film. It's not terrible...it just isn't all that great and has too many plot problems to make it worth seeking--even if it is free since it's free to watch due to it being in the public domain.

kidboots With the success of "Jane Eyre" behind them, Monogram then released "The Moonstone", another film based on a Victorian classic, this time by Wilkie Collins. Supposedly the first modern detective novel, Monogram did very well to condense the huge novel into a brisk and thrilling 62 minutes (it was a longer film originally). Monogram would have done better to keep it as a period film instead of modernizing it.Franklyn Blake (David Manners) has returned to England from India bringing the moonstone - rumoured to have been stolen from an Idol. He arrives at Verinder Manor on a dark and stormy night. Ann, his fiancée, stupidly begs to sleep with it under her pillow instead of putting it in the safe, so of course, in the morning it has been stolen. Ann's father has a heart attack and Ann seems to be in a trance. An old dark house mystery - everyone is a suspect. Carl Von Lucker (Gustav Von Seyffertitz) is disgusted at being asked for more money, Godfrey Ablewhite (Jameson Thomas) is resentful that Ann is engaged and also has gambling loses, Ann's father is being forced to vacate his home because he has no money to continue his experiments and the maid is very interested in the gem, especially when she realises the stone is worth $30,000!!! A serum is administered to Franklyn so he can re-enact his movements of that night. He does take the moonstone, sees a blurry outline of his valet, Yandoo, and asks him to look after the gem but who did he see on the original night!! Obviously the editing was done at the film's finish because it ended so fast!!!John Davidson seemed to be often cast in exotic roles. In this film he was Yandoo, an Indian (in "Death From a Distance" (1935) he played Ahmad Haidru). David Manners was the perfect actor to play opposite some of the most beautiful actresses of the early 30s. He was handsome but non threatening and obviously didn't care enough about his career to last past the mid 30s - "A Woman Rebels" (1936) was his last film. After a sensational debut as the lovestruck shopgirl in "Cynara" (1932), within a few movies Phyllis Barry was reduced to playing "the girl" in such "classics" as "What! No Beer?" (1933), "Long Lost Father" (1934) and "Love Past Thirty" (1934) - she was even way down the cast list of a "sexploitation" film "Damaged Goods"(1937) aka "Are You Fit To Marry?"!!! So her role as Ann Verinder in "The Moonstone" may be among her most prestigious roles. Another case of "whatever happened to...".

classicsoncall If you've seen enough of these Poverty Row programmers from the 1930's, you'll recognize that they pretty much adopt a tried and true formula depending on the genre. The dark and stormy night atmospherics will often accompany a murder mystery, or as in this case, the disappearance of the valuable Herncastle Moonstone Diamond. So then you'll have to keep an eye out for the minor bit of originality that might creep in to distinguish it from the rest. What I found interesting in this flick was that bit of misdirection with the old lights out trick when the moonstone vanished for the first time and it turned out that the housekeeper grabbed it for safekeeping. Couldn't figure out why she was crawling under a table though when the lights came back on. Anyone?"The Moonstone" winds up being a fairly typical mystery which, as others on this board have mentioned, is solved rather hastily if not haphazardly using a sleepwalk gimmick masterminded by the exposed villain. As is often the case, the suspects with a real criminal past are thrown in as red herrings and get enough screen time to merit observation. There was also an interesting tidbit thrown in about the jewel having been stolen many years ago from an Indian temple, with true believers dedicated to returning it to it's former home. I guess that's why Yandoo was there; I thought he would have a larger role in the story, but that wasn't the case.I'll say this though, for a valuable diamond, Ann Verinder (Phyllis Barry) was awfully nonchalant about it. With a safe on the premises and warnings to safeguard it from most everyone around her, you would think she would find a better place to put it than under her pillow. But then I guess, you wouldn't have a story.

GManfred Despite the hackneyed premise and milieu, the stage was set for a pretty interesting murder mystery. It is a 'gloomy-mansion-on-a-dark-and-stormy-night' movie, which can be very absorbing if done right. It had a good collection of characters/suspects and got off to a good start.All of sudden came the scientific-drivel denouement, the deus-ex-machina, which was both cynical and anti-climactic. This was the best the author could do? And why the rush to a conclusion? the story is short enough as is. Good performances all around and the production values were very adequate, considering this was a Poverty Row production.Sorry I can't recommend this one, but I still have a lot of movies left in my DVD collection. On to the next case.