It would be difficult to find a more tragic Hollywood figure than winsome, pert, diminutive Sidney Fox. Here she is at the apex of her career, appearing as the number-one star (Bela Lugosi was second-billed) of Universal's fascinating if somewhat unbalanced entry in the thriller cycle, Murders in the Rue Morgue, adapted from the story by Edgar Allan Poe by director Robert Florey, with additional dialogue by John Huston (his third screen credit and we sincerely hope that his contributions are the best of a rather mixed sample). Oddly, Florey's direction is a bit inconsistent. The scenes of menace are handled most effectively, but Florey seems less able directing some of the dialogue scenes particularly all those that revolve around Bert Roach's comedy relief material. The ambitious over-acting by Leon Ames doesn't help either. Nevertheless, some of Florey's directorial touches are nothing short of masterly particularly in the scenes depicting Mirakle soliciting a prostitute, Fox's dizzying ride on a swing, and the rapid cutting in the murder scene. These touches are nothing short of sheer genius.
Review of Murders in the Rue Morgue
