This early-talkie whodunit has an attention-grabbing start (a game of charades develops into a real murder), but it's mostly a stiff slog after that. There is the odd striking camera shot (including one from the POV of the murderer), but the arrangements of the actors are too theatrical, and the complete absence of a music score makes the dead spots even deader: the length feels more like 166 than 66 minutes! However, I do recommend sticking with it, because the culprit is truly surprising. The reason for that is that the culprit is a typical character of this genre, who in about 90% of such films has other functions, excluding that of the killer. The screenwriter turns some conventions on their head - before they had even become conventions. ** out of 4.
Review of Murder at Midnight
