User Reviews

... and if this was a celebrity impersonation contest I'd give this a much higher rating. Especially with the actor playing the grandfather, Harry Mestayer, looking, moving, and especially sounding so much like Lionel Barrymore. But I digress.

A utility repair and maintenance crew is digging a hole outside of a house when they find a box with the skeletal remains of a human being. Inspector Carr (John Hamilton) and his pal Dr. Crabtree (Donald Meeks) investigate. So their interest first turns to the adjacent house. Upstairs is a weird scientist, his sister who acts as his assistant, and their grandfather. They seem to have no relationships other than to each other, and being so odd one can see why.

Downstairs in the same house is a Chinese American merchant, much more normal than the clan upstairs - which is a low bar, but also with no known enemies.

Since the police department seems to have hit a dead end with this case, Dr. Crabtree is given permission to take the skull to a local scientist who specializes in bringing extinct animals to life by using only their bones to reconstruct what they looked like with flesh. Crabtree wonders if the scientist could do the same for a man given his skull. The scientist agrees to the challenge.

The camraderie between Carr and Crabtree and the use of scientific investigative methods is good as always, but the resolution lacks any explanation as to motive in the crime. Plus a couple of extra horrors are discovered at the end and they also remain unexplained. That is why I give it such a low rating. I have only seen very dim prints of this one, on Turner Classic Movies which should have the best print available, and an improved print might improve my rating as well.

A skeleton is found in an alley. The police investigates the local Chinese merchant and various people. The skull indicates an Asian boy victim.

This is a short adapted from an S. S. Van Dine novel. I do like the grim atmosphere and the exoticism of the Chinese merchant. It does fit the dark filming. I can do with less groaning. I can also do with less mad scientist vibe. If the police finds a mad scientist lab, they would surely search the location thoroughly. I expected more police work using the skull. All in all, it's a straight forward murder mystery with some good flavoring of the scary exotic Chinatown.

When a skull is discovered in an alley, it's up to police inspector John Hamilton and Donald Meek to figure out who was killed and who killed him.

It's a well composed mystery from a story by S. S. Van Dyne. This was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright. At the time he wrote them, they were considered the best murder mysteries. I tried a couple of them and found them stiffly written, rather simple to solve, and filled with characters who were badly conceived. Happily, they were swept away by the Black Mask school of writers like Dashiell Hammett, who dealt with actual human beings and could write.

This is an unusual short from Vitaphone. While the division of Warner Brothers was known for their short films, most were musical or comedy acts. However, this one is a murder mystery...which is odder yet since it's so rushed.

When the film begins, a skeleton is found stuffed in a trunk...buried behind a building. The residents (including the Chinese man who owns the place and his tenants upstairs) are investigated by the police (John Hamilton and Donald Meek) until, ultimately, one turns out to be completely insane and he tries to kill himself AND the cops!

This is a very rushed film...and because of that, it's not especially good. Additionally, the print shown by TCM is dark and grainy. All in all, you could find better shorts from the era to watch.

Skull Murder Mystery, The (1932) * 1/2 (out of 4) This time out Dr. Crabtree (Donald Crisp) and Inspector Carr (John Hamilton) investigate a skeleton, which is found buried behind a Chinese man's property. There are many suspects but the focus seems to be going towards a deranged doctor. This is the first film in the series that I've seen and I really do hope it's the worst because this movie was pretty dreadful from start to finish. The horror or mystery genre is certainly my favorite but I found very little to enjoy in this movie. The skeleton being discovered the attic scene towards the end were effective but the rest of the film was boring and bland. The direction was what really struck out as being poor because I couldn't tell anyone was leading the cast. Crisp has always been an actor I like to see in movies but he too doesn't offer anything here. Fans of the genre might want to check it out just for a curiosity thing but the rest should avoid.