When this film first began, I thought the acting was just terrible. However, it turned out that it was supposed to sound stilted as you were watching a play and didn't know it. Then, when one actor shoots the other something strange happens—it's no longer acting but real. It seems that someone replaced the blanks in the gun with live bullets and the man is killed in the middle of this play. Soon, more folks start showing up dead and it's up to some of the dumbest police I've ever seen in a B-mystery movie to solve the crime—which turns out to be related to a change in a will and a wife who is unfaithful.
So, is it worth seeing? Well, no. I've seen a ton of cheap B-movies from the 1930s and there is nothing to make this one stand out from the crowd. In fact, the cliché of having a dumb cop investigating is taken amazingly far, as this cop (until the inexplicable ending where he shows some intelligence) is a total moron. This and an overall dullness to the film make this one not particularly engaging or new. A slow time-passer at best and no more.
By the way, if you are going to murder someone, doesn't having them shot in the play seem rather odd. After all, the odds of the actor shooting the other in a fatal location isn't super-high. Oh, well...never mind.
So, is it worth seeing? Well, no. I've seen a ton of cheap B-movies from the 1930s and there is nothing to make this one stand out from the crowd. In fact, the cliché of having a dumb cop investigating is taken amazingly far, as this cop (until the inexplicable ending where he shows some intelligence) is a total moron. This and an overall dullness to the film make this one not particularly engaging or new. A slow time-passer at best and no more.
By the way, if you are going to murder someone, doesn't having them shot in the play seem rather odd. After all, the odds of the actor shooting the other in a fatal location isn't super-high. Oh, well...never mind.