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(1934, aka THE NIGHT OF THE PARTY) Malcolm Keen, Jane Baxter, Leslie Banks, Ian Hunter, Ernest Thesiger, Viola Keats, directed by Michael Powell. This is a pretty good whodunit, with lots of suspects to choose from. A gala social party is being held at the house of a big newspaper publisher. The publisher (played to hilt by Keen) is a total cad. He fires his daughter’s husband (his secretary) after learning of their secret marriage; he publishes nothing but harsh reviews of a writer with whom he claims friendship; he blackmails the commissioner of police’s daughter for her affections, he opposes a loan to the very princess for whom he’s throwing the party; and he even threatens his own butler with legal action. So, when he ends of deader than a doornail (during a game of murder party) there are plenty of suspects to go around. The final courtroom scene where the killer’s identity is finally revealed is a hoot. Hunter, Baxter, and Banks are all excellent, but it’s Ernest Thesiger who upstages everyone as the eccentric novelist. Most enjoyable. From an excellent 35mm print.
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