MOSS ROSE (1947)

In Edwardian England, Rose Lynton is a chorus girl who goes by the name Belle. Her fellow dancer Daisy has been acting jumpy and secretive, and one night Belle sees her leave with a man in a hansom cab. The next day, Daisy is found dead, having been drugged and strangled. Next to her body is a Bible with a pressed moss rose, which is currently out of season, inside. Belle tracks the stranger from the night before down, the wealthy Michael Drago, whom she sees dining with his mother, Lady Margaret, and his fiancée Audrey. Belle sends an anonymous tip to Inspector Clinner about Michael, but then tries to blackmail Michael. She doesn't want money, however; she wants the chance to live at his country estate for a week or so just to see how the other half lives. Explaining to his mother and fiancée that he is paying Belle back for a favor, Michael brings her to the house. Audrey is, of course, irritated, but Lady Margaret is more gracious. Meanwhile, Clinner visits the house and discovers that Lady Margaret grows flowers in a greenhouse, including moss roses. Belle finds out that Audrey has bought several bibles at a nearby bookstore. Soon enough, Michael and Belle realize they are in love, another irritation for Audrey, and the stage is set for tension and another murder before justice is done. 

This Gothic melodrama is enjoyable enough as long as you don't think too hard about the details. There are plotholes, some having to do with a lack of backstory, including Michael's unsavory involvement with Daisy. It's not clear why Belle suddenly believes that Michael is innocent (and once we think that too, some tension disappears) except that she has to for the plot to move forward. Though the underlying motive for the murders becomes clear, there is never an explanation for the Bible and the rose, unless I missed it. But the basics of the Gothic thriller, including shadowy visuals, are here and mostly carry us past the implausibilities. The acting is weak. Peggy Cummins (Belle) has a remarkably artificial British accent; I assumed she was an American actor trying too hard, but she's Irish; they should have let her speak in her natural accent. Victor Mature (Michael) is as thick and wooden as he usually is, and isn't able to strike any realistic sparks with Cummins. Vincent Price (Clinner) is also rather artificial and seems a bit under-rehearsed. The only bright spots are Patricia Medina as Audrey (good enough that I wish she had more to do) and Ethel Barrymore as the mother. Even she doesn't always hit the right notes, but she comes through in the climax. Ultimately, this is pretty average in every way. I wanted to like it more, but it's low energy and drab. I seem to be talking myself out of recommending this, but if you happen to run across it some afternoon, it's painless. Pictured are Price and Barrymore. [DVD]