No blockbuster names in this one. A family tries to put the rich old grandmama into an old folks home so they can enjoy her money. She proves in court that she has complete control of her mind, and invites everyone up to her house for a family meeting. Then the bodies start piling up! The picture is quite washed out, and it probably has little to no chance of a restoration. And at times, the background music is so loud, we can't hear what the actors are saying. Even when there is no music. Talkies had been around for ten years, so this was just a low budget issue. Nothing too special about this script... just kind of stumbles along. Although they do break the 4th wall a couple times. An odd moment when one of the actors mentions that it's usually just about now when the dead bodies disappear in the moving pictures. Some fun bits where grandma moves through the secret doorways and hallways. And the newspaper man makes a crack about the hays office. A shortie, from monogram, at only 67 minutes. It's just okay. Picture and sound are pretty rough, and the ending was too predictable for words. Released in june of 1941, just before the united states was pulled into world war two. Directed by phil rosen. He had worked with edison, according to his bio here on imdb.
Review of Murder by Invitation
