One Frightened Night (1935)

The story begins with a rich guy (Charley Grapewin) announcing to several relatives that because no one has been able to locate his granddaughter, he's splitting his fortune up among them. Then, as if my queue, a man arrives with what he claims is the missing granddaughter. And, a bit later, another one arrives as well! Obviously at least one of them is fake and soon one of them is murdered.During the 1930s, there were a ton of movies pretty much like "One Frightened Night". You know, films where some folks are all stuck in a house and a murderer is running amok and the cops are complete boobs so it takes a smartie pants non-cop to solve the whole thing. Well, because it's so familiar, I found my brain going on vacation periodically during the film and paying attention and even caring about the characters was a chore.The best thing about this film are the brilliantly made opening credits. Thereafter, however, it's all downhill and the film is predictable and overly familiar. A time-passer and nothing more.

Regis Toomey forces shut a blown-open window. "Swell night for a murder," he laughs—it's the film's opening line. He returns to the dinner table and his fellow guests. Outside the rain and thunder and lightning continue. Rich old eccentric Charley Grapewin has invited a small handful of relatives and close associates to his lonely mansion for the night. He doesn't exactly love them all, but he needs to divide up his fortune and has decided to give them one million dollars each—insisting, all the while, that if only his granddaughter Doris could be found, she would receive the entire fortune herself. And what do you know? Soon a granddaughter shows up, complete with old family letters written by her long lost mother. Nonplussed by this development, the rest of the guests stick around for the night. The plot really takes off when—Another young woman shows up claiming to be the same granddaughter. Can a murder be far off?Charley Grapewin is the center of the action as the old man; his health is supposed to be bad but he's awfully feisty. Toomey is fine as the irreverent young man with a ready wit and plenty of nerve. The rest of the cast is colorful as well—Hedda Hopper is a greedy relative, Lucien Littlefield a shady doctor. Wallace Ford is fun as Luvalle: "a magician, a prestidigitator, now you see it, now you don't!" Rafaella Ottiano is not a familiar name to me, but her face is certainly familiar—she plays Elvira, the housekeeper with a dark look and an ear to every keyhole.The two Dorises are both good. Evalyn Knapp as the first is sweet, polite and refined, sooo charming to the old man…a little too charming? Mary Carlisle as Doris number two is a stage actress and a fast talker—a complete contrast. All of the characters gather together for a great moment right at the midpoint: Grapewin announces his conclusion that "it wasn't suicide, it was murder. And the person who killed her…is in this room!"—at which the camera pans slowly from one face to the next, all around the room. It sounds so clichéd, but boy, is it fun.This is a good one—short and sweet, cute and unpretentious. Funny moment: "The Great Luvalle…bah!"

Most of the other reviewers on this board seemed to have fun with this one, and there's no reason not to. I was reminded of Vincent Price's 1959 flick "House on Haunted Hill", but a more likely comparison could be made to another Jack Haley vehicle from 1944 - "One Body Too Many". That one also included an eccentric millionaire, but the stakes are even higher here for heirs of Jasper Whyte's (Charley Grapewin) five million dollar fortune. I always get a kick out of the timing involved in these 1930's era flicks - if the 'true' heir shows up before midnight, she gets the whole bundle, while the five other poor saps who would have gotten a million each are left holding the proverbial empty bag.The best thing to do here is sit back and relax as the characters go through their motions, because in the best Charlie Chan tradition, the murderer isn't revealed until right at the very end. You can take a stab at it of course, but these pictures always managed to confound anyone who really tried to stay focused and keep track of all the characters. My money would have been on Arthur Proctor (Arthur Hohl), just because he was the creepiest suspect with the most to lose. Hedda Hopper probably would have named him in her gossip column.I can't say for sure if I'd call it a continuity goof, but keep an eye on the utility pole that gets hit by the falling tree during the thunderstorm. It shows up later in the picture good as new!For a mystery flick that comes in at just over an hour, you can't go wrong with "One Frightened Night". I'd put it right up there with my other suggestions for a dark and stormy night movie marathon, just like the ones mentioned in my opening comments. If that weren't enough, this movie is the only one I've seen so far that contains the word 'prestidigitator', and that's got to be worth a bonus point!

John Stanley's Creature Feature Film Guide calls this film "dusty fun" and I have to agree wholeheartedly. The formula and gags are quite dated but still retain a charm that lends so much to the enjoyment. I don't think I've met anyone who has a negative opinion of this film. I first saw it back in the early 80's on PBS's Matinée at the Bijou. It was cut pretty severely, about 10 or 15 minutes, to fit the time schedule, but lost nothing of it's story or characterizations. I loved it from the start. What a blessing to find it intact from Creepy Classics back in 95, and now from Alpha on DVD. A great cast of character actors ranging from "Dorothy's uncle" to "that crabby guy who ran the orphanage in the little Rascals.....now Spanky be reasonable!" A movie like this can't be made these days, and I imagine a great deal of the population would pass this right by were any station to show it. This is a real forgotten gem that should be watched if the occasion arises. BTW I don't think Hedda Hopper is Jasper's daughter. She always refers to him by his name and doesn't call him father. Also, at one point she says of Jasper's "daughter" "she doesn't look much like her mother does she?" I believe she may be a cousin or perhaps his sister.