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Director's Spotlight
Senior Film Conservator
Director's Spotlight: United States
A Deep Dive into the 1937 Vision of Charles Reisner
The brilliance of Murder Goes to College (1937) is inseparable from a monumental shift in Comedy filmmaking spearheaded by Charles Reisner. Occupying a unique space between Comedy and pure art, it serves as a blueprint for future generations of Comedy directors.
In Murder Goes to College, Charles Reisner pushes the boundaries of conventional narrative. The film's unique approach to its subject matter has sparked endless debates and interpretations among cinephiles and critics alike.
To fully appreciate Murder Goes to College, one must consider the cinematic climate of 1937. During this period, United States was undergoing significant artistic shifts, and Charles Reisner was at the forefront of this Comedy movement, often challenging established norms.
| Cinematography | Noir-Inspired |
| Soundtrack | Synth-Heavy |
| Editing | Disjunctive |
| Art Direction | Baroque |
Visualizing the convergence of Charles Reisner's style and the core Comedy narrative.
The policy-racket reaches it lean, bony fingers into the ivy-towers of a large university and the underworld trying to "beat the numbers-racket" with applied mathematics. One of the professors, Tom Barry (Earle Foxe) is murdered in the Dean's office. He had worked out a system that enabled gangster Strike Belno (Buster Crabbe) to beat the numbers-racket and then double-crossed him. This makes Belno a suspect. The professor's wife, Greta Barry (Astrid Allwyn), who is in love with Belno , but doesn't resent the attentions of another professor who is madly in love with her. This provides two more suspects. There is also professor's sister, Nora Barry (Marsha Hunt), who is burned up because he wouldn't give her permission to get married, and her fiance, who never liked the professor anyway, and who has a mean look. Add two more suspects. Add to this is a dozen professors mixed up in some dirty work with the dead man; an elevator boy who slinks unseen from floor to floor, and a mysterious janitor who "hears pistol shots" and the list is complete. Maybe. Enter detective Hank Hyer (Lynne Overman) and newspaper reporter Sim Perkins (Roscoe Karns) aiming to bring order out of chaos. Instead, they get themselves pretty well involved.
Decades after its release, Murder Goes to College remains a vital piece of the cinematic puzzle. Its influence can be seen in countless modern works, solidifying Charles Reisner's status as a master of the craft in United States and beyond.