This is a type of film where you need a scoreboard keep track of which character is involved in what scheme and related to who and what the purpose of their presence is. It's your typical dying relative discussing the will creates a mystery, but then it begins to twist in different ways and gets very convoluted. Like "Seven keys to Baldpate" (a much filmed creepy old Broadway play), it involves the mystery of seven keys, but these keys aren't individually owned entrances to a creepy old mansion but seven keys that are required to get into a dungeon like basement.
The desperation for someone to get these Keys leads to murder, and that creates some very creepy characterizations including a dour butler and his housekeeper wife, a mute valet who looks like he haunts houses professionally oh, and a mysterious character with a monkey played by Leslie Banks who is the top-billed lead and thus very important to the story.
The heroine is the young Lilli Palmer who is best known for her character parts as an older actress and her marriage to Rex Harrison. She's feisty yet vulnerable as she is given one of the keys, something that puts her life in jeopardy. Gina Malo is very funny as Palmer's best pal. There's also a detective who reminds me of NVM contract player Reginald Owen but is not. The film is highlighted by some genuinely spooky photographic shots around the dead man's mansion and on the mountainous roads heading up to his place, but there are many slow moments that leads this to a halt. A nice curiosity, it's memorable for its atmosphere but not really much as far as an original plot.
The desperation for someone to get these Keys leads to murder, and that creates some very creepy characterizations including a dour butler and his housekeeper wife, a mute valet who looks like he haunts houses professionally oh, and a mysterious character with a monkey played by Leslie Banks who is the top-billed lead and thus very important to the story.
The heroine is the young Lilli Palmer who is best known for her character parts as an older actress and her marriage to Rex Harrison. She's feisty yet vulnerable as she is given one of the keys, something that puts her life in jeopardy. Gina Malo is very funny as Palmer's best pal. There's also a detective who reminds me of NVM contract player Reginald Owen but is not. The film is highlighted by some genuinely spooky photographic shots around the dead man's mansion and on the mountainous roads heading up to his place, but there are many slow moments that leads this to a halt. A nice curiosity, it's memorable for its atmosphere but not really much as far as an original plot.