A Shot in the Dark

A Shot In The Dark is an old 30's suspense flick based on a novel called The Dartmouth Murders by Clifford Orr. It's a murder mystery in the likes of Agatha Christie.

Byron, a typical college boy on the verge of his 21st birthday, is found dead. At first it appears to be suicide, but murder quickly becomes evident. The father of Ken, Byron's roommate, is a lawyer and something of an amateur detective so father and son team up to find a killer. As they investigate another boy with pertinent information is killed to keep him silent. Who will be the next to die? Byron's mother is hiding a secret that may crack the case open if only the authorities could find out what it is. What is this tie Ken's father has with Byron's mother?

It's not a bad story at all, better than any number of other murder mysteries from the early days of film, actually. It unfolds well with a good pace of mystery and danger with a few interesting twists that definitely sound like they come from a mystery novel. The problem is that the quality of the presentation is so poor that it makes the movie hard to watch.

The acting is not bad, or at least it appeared to me to be so through the filter of severely degraded film. I've never heard of any of the actors, but I'm not an expert on 1930's talent, either. A few of the cast could stand to be better, and some of the scenes are weak. Overall, though it's not a bad offering.

MORALITY:

As you might expect from a '30's movie there is no strong language, sexuality, or nudity.

The hanging boy might be slightly disturbing, and we see a couple of murders but without any blood or other graphic visuals. They just fall down dead as they might in a stage play.

SPIRITUALITY:

We could take a look at some of the motivations herein, but that might spoil the mystery.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

If you like early suspense films this one might be worth a glance. The dated quality hurts the viewing experience, but if you can get past that it's not bad at all.

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