Stars: Noah Beery, Astrid Allwyn, Edwin Maxwell Director: William Nigh Writer: Edgar Wallace (novel) Police try to solve a murder on board an ocean liner.
Before watching this I was thinking fondly of my grandparents. At the time this film was made my grandpa was 20 and my grandma 16. I love these old movies and just imagine what we now know and they still had ahead of them. WW 2 and such. May we leave our children and grandchildren fond memories as well.
Ah yes...........WWII Lots of fond memories such as the Atom Bomb, thousands of soldiers slaughtered every day, historical landmarks reduced to rubble, torture, rape, unspeakable atrocities and so on. Yes......those were the days, my friend. We thought they would never end.
@@holmanrw To be that age at that time meant they went through WWI and the flu pandemic, Prohibition, the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression, and WWII. THEY were the greatest generation, not the next one who came of age in WWII.
My grandmother was a nurse during the 1918 pandemic and was the only medical person around for 100 miles. She said it lasted about 4 years. This was fascinating as when I was young and went to daddy/daughter day, I saw things that didn’t come out to the public for 20+ years or more. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie!
I really liked this one! Great pick! Author; Arthur B. Reeves, wrote a series of crime novels in the early part of the 20th Century featuring a Professor Craig Kennedy who used Science, forensics, and psychological profiling techniques to help law enforcement catch the more savvy criminals. One book, entitled The Dream Doctor published in 1913/1914 has a story about a submarine that is operated by remote control. By the way, the books are still on the market
One of the interesting things about this movie is the secondary story of drone warfare. They were testing radio control ships surmising that being able to put drones in the water would be better than using actual people won warships. Oddly enough I like to take the stories of old movies and compare them to newer movies and see if I can find plots that have been reused. In this case I am reminded of an episode of Star Trek called The Ultimate Computer in which they Enterprise is tasked with testing a new system for starships to be placed under computer control. I also enjoyed the imaginary technology of sending messages of handwritten text over radio waves. The text appeared on the receiving screen as fast as it was entered. It reminded me that FAXing was invented back in 1843.
Interesting observation. During the late 30's there were quite a few movies involving espionage and improved technology. At the time we were not at war, but with what was going on in Europe at the time with Mussolini's, and the Nazi's rise to power, we were, it appears, being made ready for war as a possibility.
The sci-fi/hi-tech aspects of the film are a nice bonus to the murder and mystery elements! Kinda neat watching the 1930's version of "texting" complete with electronic notifications.
Good movie; story by Edgar Wallace - the famous crime fiction write of the 20s-50s I think. He had voluminous publications, working on 4 or 5 novels at the same time.... The idea of a 'writing pad' is incredible, about 50 years before the Apple Newton II came up!!! Worth watching. Thanks for posting it.
@@maryperkins5867me too! The comments are so important, aren’t they? I get such a better feel of the quality of the the movie and if it’s worth watching from reading the comments first. If the comments are bad, I don’t bother watching the movie unless for some reason it’s a favourite of mine. People also love sharing whatever knowledge they have about the movie and anyone or thing connected with it. It can be fascinating!
Adam. I do the same! I think about the ages of my parents and imagine they had seen the same movie I’m now watching! I also imagine we’re seeing it together! After all there is no time in heaven!
Astrid Allwyn, the nurse, was a Swedish American actress. She retired early to devote herself to raising her 3 children from 2 marriages. One of her daughters played on the Munsters.
The old lady was hilarious. The screenplay was based on a story by Edgar Wallace, one of the most famous and successful fiction writers of the day. He is perhaps best remembered as the author of the original treatment for King Kong, though unfortunately he didn't live to see the movie made. One point, though. Being under radio control would not increase the ship's speed. Every ship has what is known as a "hull speed," which is the maximum speed it's capable of based on the hydrodynamic properties of its hull. Putting a more powerful engine in it won't make it go any faster. The additional force would just create more resistance, which would eventually cause the hull to buckle and tear the ship apart.
With an Autopilot, GPS & Radar as big as a box of matches, today a ship can go anywhere without hitting anything including icebergs, or other ships, etc.
Awww bless you. I'm sure this truly brought back wonderful memories for you. It's about leaving a legacy & that may mean whatever you want it to be. I think it's beautiful that you've added your grandparents ❤. Is it alright to say that they live on as it were through these movies 🎬? Take care 🙂
Anyone else find it interesting that their secretive "futuristic ideas" (remote control piloting and that "handwritten" FAX like machine) are both now part of our daily world? That is pretty interesting to see, especially coming from an early MONOGRAM picture. Lol!
Yeah, found that one of the most interesting aspects of the movie. Predicting the use of screen devices to send visual "text messages" back-and-forth over long-distances in real time.
Best part of this movie is it has 'Gibby Hayes' in it, without 'Old Gibby' no movie back then was considered genuine. This was when Old Gibby was still shaving in the morning, not long after this movie Gibby's hangover's in morning prevented him from seeing straight enough to shave, hence beard sprouts and slurred speech and 'Old Gibby' is born - we luv ya Gibby!
Good example of good audio. Thanks! It CAN be done attention to the small stuff like the sound IS important. Don't mean to gripe but some of the best movies just have next to no audio...
If we could turn back time to the good old days where we not living life in the fast lane. Now everybody seems lost in touch with reality and as a consequence time moves faster
My grandparents were born in the early 1890's and my parents were born in 1916 and myself in 1946... time flies too fast. Good movie. The Olympic is still in service in 1934
When a sea captain needs a rest, does he go off on a nice long land voyage? Seyffertitz? I think I'd better get to know her a little better first. I never did trust a guy with one of them little upturned moustaches. No sailor would call that ship a boat. Magic writing! It's the communication of the future. When testing a new unknown remote control, load up the ship with unsuspecting passengers and make sure you can not over ride the device.
Other benefits back then were they used a try pod, the spoke clearly, the music was back ground not foreground and none of the women do that disgusting fake croaking when they speak. Utter pleasure to watch these great films
Edwin Maxwell, the bad guy toward the end in this film, was also in 'The 9th Guest' this same year, and played a less-than-pleasant character there as well.
He almost always played unpleasant characters but once in a while played a detective. He was also in "Duck Soup" as one of the ministers in President Groucho's cabinet where he gets insulted and resigns, LOL.
Like _Metropolis_ , Mystery Liner employs Jacob’s Ladders that serve no real purpose other than to shoot arcs of electricity up into the air. Looks scientific anyway.
Bystander: It's uncanny! Professor: It's ... science. Science on a par with Frankenstein 3 years earlier. The detective (Edwin Maxwell) reminds me a lot of the actor Edward Arnold (the rich father in You Can't Take it With You).
Very slow mystery at sea. You could make a drinking game by taking a slug every time they say "S-303". I don't drink but fell asleep three-quarters through. I did wake up for the surprise ending.
Remote driving of ships and cars too .. a prophetic movie . .. which makes me wonder why we have all our Navy around NK .. The russkies have their navy around our coastline .. all very strange .. wonder if they are remote controlled too ?
SciFi prescience perhaps a bit, though scientists had developed radio controlled aircraft and bombs by and during WW II. I enjoyed the movie. Thanks for posting. Good on ya mate.
VERRRY INTERESTING. This was made in 1934, with Adolf Hitler newly installed as Fuhrer, and already we've got propaganda films about 'KNOTT-ZEES' (strongly hinted at) running loose. All they needed after this was Robert Taylor as the US Navy officer and Conrad Veight & Martin Kosleck as the villains. Jawohl.
There seems to be sone scenes missing, like when the the professor was attacked, or any other attacks on major players. (No spoilers - no names) Was it censorship or a time saving measure? The film is still pretty good, great ending!
Well, they lost me when the group of men boarded the ship, walked past the nurse, conversed with doctor and never acknowledged the woman standing beside them. Next.
This is a pretty good movie, with Edwin Maxwell, who is a Character Actor, who, only the year before, was in Duck Soup, getting insulted, in A Cabinet Meeting, by Groucho Marx to the point of resigning as A Secretary of (Finance/Treasury or something) Fredonia. Also, is Noah Berry, who, I believe, is the Captain & Father of Noah Berry, Jr., a Character, who'd been in many movies, such as Of Mice & Men (1939) & who we younger generations know from The Rockford Files. Is that device they're working on, in this movie, what would go on to be Cruise Control? Let me know what you think & if I am right about Cruise Control.
Jackie L Yes, that old woman was the best actor of the bunch. Zeffie Tibury , born in London in 1863. You may remember her from "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Tobacco Road", as the grandma. Her full list of movies is too long to mention here. A great character actress of the early days of cinema.
So nice when someone else knows about these great character actors and actresses - not here, except for Zeffie Tilbury. She also played the very glamorous con-artist with Marlene Dietrich in "Desire". They made the movies more meaningful when you'd see the old familiar face Whitty and Owen Nigel Bruce et al, who could play, like Tilbury, from rags to riches.
