Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Ginger 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.

Walter Sloane Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

cluciano63 Pretty good murder story in a pre-code kind of way. Lionel Barrymore plays the local legal-eagle, as well as the irate father of the soon-to-be-bride, his daughter intending to marry his old friend, the biggest cad he knows. He tells the fellow he will murder him-justifiably in his mind-if won't give her up, and we see him do so. He even has arranged witnesses to "prove" he could not be the murderer, but the dead man's longtime love, played by a lovely Kay Francis, suspects him from the start.(Her scene at his body is not her best, however.) She then discovers the imprint on a piece of paper of a note the dead man had written before he was murdered, showing that Lionel had threatened to murder him. Of course Lionel is right there when she finds it, and explains in lawlerly detail how she will appear in a trial, since she is the beneficiary of the will.So will Lionel be caught for his misdeed? Or is the one of the pre-codes when murderers do not have to pay for their crime? Lionel Barrymore gives his usual strong, if sometimes over-the-top, performance. Kay plays well in a major supporting role. The rest of the cast is adequate in their roles, but the film is mostly between Lionel and Kay.

bruno-32 Caught this last night on a boring night of TV, and was mildly amused by the concept. Some reviewers here say that Barrymore's performance was hammy, and I have to agree a bit, that it was, but being a primarily stage actor turning to films, is understandable. The real ham acting in my opinion was Miss Kay Francis. Her role was interesting, but her reactions to Barrymore's insinuations were not believable. I thought it an amateurish performance, albeit, she had masterly improved in latter years. The ending was a shocker in a way, but again so amateurishly performed..but hey, this was 1933. Also, the daughters character was out of whack. Most of the movie she was this innocent, fragile child seeking love, and then becomes this wanton creature.

Neil Doyle For the sake of his daughter (Madge Evans), who wants to marry a playboy cad (Alan Mobrary) old enough to be her father, Lionel Barrymore is the lawyer who thinks he can get away with the perfect crime by making it possible for her daughter to marry a wealthy young man (William Bakewell) rather than the unsuitable cad.The tale is taut, told with bits of humor and suspense on a dark night full of lightning and thunder. The old dark house elements work well within the confines of the contrived plot which has a bit of irony in the final twist which comes in a very abrupt and unexpected ending.Performances are what you'd expect from a melodramatic film made in '31, and Lionel Barrymore gets his usual chance to chew most of the scenery with some help from Kay Francis as a woman he decides to throw suspicion on. His plan backfires in the final scene.Interesting, if contrived, it's satisfying enough as a mystery to keep the attention riveted throughout.

marcslope What a dopey little melodrama, even by the impoverished standards of early talkies. Lawyer Barrymore brags about being able to commit the perfect murder, then supposedly commits it, then conducts a pointless investigation among the guests in the country house, while a phony early-talkie thunderstorm rages outside. In the end he gets his ludicrous just deserts. Barrymore smacks his lips and harrumphs in his hammy theatrical style that was mistaken for great acting at the time, and he and Kay Francis, playing the deceased's mistress, seem to have a contest going over who can pop their eyes more. The scriptwriting is so lazy that we can't tell how we're supposed to feel about the protagonists, and the pretty young couple who supposedly should capture our sympathies are far too insipid to care about.