Midnight Mystery (1930)

The plot sees trashy crime novelist "Sally" (Betty Compson) and fiancée "Gregory" (Hugh Trevor) hosting a soirée during which they have a bit of a set-to and break off their engagement. Tensions are now running pretty high, enhanced further by the untimely death of "Mischa" (Ivan Lebedeff) who's been up to naughty business with "Madeline" (Rita La Roy) whose husband "Tom" (Lowell Sherman) is none too pleased. Wait! What's occurred? Is he really dead? Well the suspense is but momentary as the jolly jape turns decidedly nasty and a real corpse leaves them with a real murder that needs solving. Lebedeff is dreadful, I always struggle to see why Hollywood gave him screen time at all; but Sherman, Trevor and Compson hold this together efficiently, with plenty of squabbling and a fair degree of suspicious characters for us to, well, suspect! It's not a great film, indeed it's actually - even for 1930 - quite derivative, but the look of the film and the decently paced direction make for an acceptable cinematic game of "Cluedo".