Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

utgard14 Jerome Breen (Lionel Atwill) is accused of murder after being identified by an eye witness. However, the witness says Breen spoke. At the trial, Breen's attorney proves he is a deaf mute and the witness' testimony falls apart. So now the police must figure out if Breen really is guilty or being framed.This is a fun little quickie from poverty row studio Monogram. It's best if you don't overthink it or look at it exclusively through a modern lens. It was made on the cheap in the early 1930s. Yes, the sign language Atwill uses is just meaningless hand gestures. This was back in the days when the public was probably largely unaware of sign language and it was highly unlikely a studio, especially one like Monogram, would expect its actors to learn some just for a part. Just enjoy it for what it is: a fun but cheap little mystery thriller with the always-great Lionel Atwill starring.

robert-temple-1 This is an ingenious and interesting B thriller. The 'sphinx' is a deaf mute, who is, to say the least, extraordinarily enigmatic. (No Egyptian connection! Not a pyramid in sight!) Lionel Atwill plays 'the sphinx' and makes the part very compelling. The mystery is: how can this man who, the doctors say, has been deaf and mute from birth, be a psychopathic murderer who always speaks to the witnesses of his crimes? This takes a lot of figuring out. He is tried and acquitted of murder, natch. But is there more to this? The ingenue role is played by Sheila Terry, who is extremely lively and is very like Fay Wray but without the steamy sensuous air about her. Her eyes sparkle, one wants to go on watching her, and it is a pity she quit films early and died aged only 46. (Here she is 23.) A young fellow of considerable charm is always trying to get her to marry him, played very well by Theodore Newton. Luis Alberni plays an amusing character part. This is a cheapie but a goodie.

sol (There are Spoilers) After asking for a light from the building janitor Luigi Baccigalu, Louis Blberni, what looks like, or is a dead ringer of, the hearing and speaking impaired world famous philanthropist Jerome Breen, Lionel Atwill,walks out of the building and disappears into the night. Mr. Baccigalu checking from where "Breen" came from stocker-brokers. Garfield's office finds Mr. Garfield laying on the floor strangled to death!The police arriving on the scene are a bit startled in Mr. Baccigalu's discretion of Garfield's killer in that he's, Jerome Breen, unable to both hear as well as talk so how could he have asked him for a light! The Chronicle's top gossip/crime reporter Jack Burton, Ted Newton, suspects that this Mr. Breen is the killer but is somehow using his inability to hear or talk as an alibi in covering up Mr. Girfiled's murder! But how he's doing it is the $64.00 question!At his trial Mr. Breen gets the support of Jack's girlfriend Jerry Crane, Shella Terry, in her columns covering his trial that they more then anything else are the reason for his acquittal. It's also brought out that the state's star witness Mr. Bacciglu is a heavy drinker, mostly of gin, and the night of Mr. Garfield's murder he was smashed more then usual making his testimony in seeing Mr. Breen at the murder site suspect.The fact that Jerry was so involved in having Mr. Breen acquitted has Jack, who feels that Breen is in fact Mr. Garfield's killer, and Jerry on the opposite ends of the Garfield murder case. Breen, or someone who looks like him, is later spotted by stock clerk Dave Werner's, Paul Fix, mother who after Breen talked to her finds that her son Dave was also murdered with Breen again as the prime suspect!It soon becomes very obvious that Breen, who's been deft and unable to speak since birth, is somehow using a double or possibly twin to throw the police off but in order to prove that the police or state prosecutes will have to produce the second Mr. Breen. There's also the very real fact that Mr. Breen may have somehow come up with the ability to both speak and hear even though he's been confirmed by the court and police physicians as being unable to do that!The ending exposes just what Breen was up to in his mysterious actions that lead to the death of some half dozen persons. It also exposes the way Breen was able to fool the police as well as Jack and Jerry, for opposite reasons, in his Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde act but not after he pulls a fast one and checks out for good. Breen's exit is anything but mysterious, like his crimes, but it does the job of him escaping ultimate justice.

BaronBl00d Philanthropist Jerome Breen walks out of a room and goes to an office building custodian and asks what time it is. He nonchalantly leaves while the other man goes to a nearby office and finds yet another stock broker choked to death by incredibly strong hands. All would seem to point to Breen as he was seen by an eye witness, but Mr. Breen is medically a mute. Such is the story behind The Sphinx. It is a craftily-made little thriller with some comedic touches against the backdrop of a rather ingenuous mystery. Lionel Atwill plays the ubiquitous Breen and the biggest regret...not flaw, but regret..is that he has so few lines in the picture. Atwill and his use of clever timing and sardonic wit are always a major plus to any picture, yet Atwill can and does employ his facial muscles to convey much. The other actors are all strangely pretty decent with the gentleman playing the custodian, an Italian that drinks a bit, turning in a fine comedic performance. The mystery in the end is not easy to guess, perhaps a bit contrived, but wholly enjoyable.