THE RIVERSIDE MURDER (1935)

Banker Robert Norman is in his library talking to his canary when he is shot to death. The family assumes it's suicide, but Inspector Winton and his associate McKay realize it's murder. There are plenty of suspects, including a housekeeper, a mysterious woman who visited Norman just before he was killed, and two old acquaintances of Norman's who were houseguests. We soon find out that Norman was the central figure in an unusual pact: years ago, bad financial advice he gave to four friends led to them all losing money. They put their remaining money in a trust and five years later, they would share equally in the money they all had made since then. The two houseguests, Perrin and Sanders, were there because the pact was ending at midnight of the next evening. The other two men are scheduled to arrive the next day. Gregg, who shows up next, has been a failure and has been bugging Norman for an advance on his share of the money. The fourth, Jerome, arrives rattled after claiming he'd been shot at. The mystery woman is reporter Claire Haines who has come back to the house hoping to get a headline story on Norman's death. Just as Jerome is about to confide who he thinks the killer is, he is shot from the window and drops dead. With the money from the pact about to be distributed, Winton can't figure out why any of the beneficiaries would want to have killed Norman, but it turns out that Norman had a son who fell into disgrace in China and has been imprisoned, but now is apparently free—and maybe behind the murders.

This is a serviceable B-mystery with decent performances and a plot that isn't overly complex. What it mainly lacks is atmosphere—taken in a different direction, this might have made a dandy little "old dark house" thriller, as it's pretty much set entirely in Norman's large house which has its own name (River House—not very imaginative but still a proper name). Scenes that take place in the dark aren't shot to take advantage of that aspect of the setting. At heart, it's a Charlie Chan mystery with a fairly colorless lead detective. Basil Sydney is OK as Winton but he’s not really a go-getter. The rest of the cast is nondescript except for Alastair Sim (the 1950 SCROOGE); this was his first movie and he does stand out a bit, showing a flair for some mild comic relief without making his character ridiculous. A generally enjoyable hour of mild mystery. Pictured are Sim and Sydney. [YouTube]