Green Eyes

Call me crazy, but I think it's questionable marketing to base the title of a black and white movie on colors. Green Eyes? How am I supposed to know whose eyes are green in this? Not to mention eyes are not exactly a theme in this though they do come into play at one point.

Despite the weak title from a marketing standpoint the mystery story here is quite enjoyable. I'd put it somewhere just below the typical Mr. Wong movie. It's not Doyle or Christie level mystery writing, but it's not bad.

At a costume party old man Kester is found murdered in his closet. When the cops show up to investigate they find a mess of conflicting stories and viable suspects. Chief among them is Kester's granddaughter who was not getting along with the old man; he didn't like her boyfriend and cut off her allowance until she dumped him. A mysterious business associate from years past and various suspicious family and staff roam about. One of them is a mystery writer who is eager to be involved with the investigation, but the real detectives are dubious about what he can contribute.

It's essentially a weaving of ideas to keep you guessing about who did it. Different people seem like viable suspects at different times, but there is no proof. The revelation of the culprit(s) will not blow anyone away with its cleverness but is satisfying for the mystery. The presentation of the story can feel stiff at times which holds it back some from being better than it is.

Some of the acting is not bad at all though some of it is unconvincing. It's a dialogue-heavy movie so a bad performance really hurts. The weak audio quality doesn't help in that regard, either as it can make following all the dialogue more difficult than it should be. I didn't recognize any of the actors, but Charles Starrett seems to have been a big deal in Westerns in the 40's.

Overall I have to say that for a murder mystery from the 30's I'd rank this one high amongst those I've seen. It has that charm that comes from the early era of film and is engaging even if it doesn't rise to the level of some of beloved classic horror from the same era.

MORALITY:

Typical of black and white movies this one is tame. The violence is minimal. We see a couple of corpses but no blood. Mostly the actual acts are implied by hearing a gun shot in the other room or something similar.

There is perhaps some vague sexual allusion but nothing that should cause concern for those worried about such things. There is, of course, no nudity.

There is no strong language at all.

SPIRITUALITY:

I won't go into the motivations of the killer because that would take away too much of the fun of seeing the mystery. There is nothing specifically spiritual to discuss here.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

If you like classic mystery tales this one is worth checking out. Even if you don't specifically like the early days of film, as long as you can tolerate the dated quality it might be an enjoyable story for you.

#GreenEyes