Murder by an Aristocrat is exactly as messy as you'd hope

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s B-mysteries that feel like they were filmed on a shoestring budget in someone's living room, absolutely. It’s perfect for a rainy afternoon when you don't want to think too hard. If you're looking for prestige cinema or a logical masterpiece, you’re going to be frustrated by how quickly the logic just... evaporates.

The whole setup is classic. You’ve got a guy everyone hates, a locked-ish room, and a house full of people acting suspicious. Bayard Thatcher is the kind of villain who makes you wonder how he stayed alive as long as he did without someone just throwing a heavy vase at his head.

Nurse Sally Keating is our eyes and ears, and honestly, she’s the only one who seems to have a brain. The rest of the family spends most of their screen time looking worried or walking into rooms looking for things they definitely shouldn't have.

The small stuff

• The pacing is frantic. It’s like they were afraid the audience would fall asleep if anyone stopped talking for more than five seconds.
• Claire Dodd is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. She makes the "nurse who knows too much" trope actually feel like a person.
• The dialogue is sharp, maybe a bit too sharp. People don't talk like this, but in this movie, you don't really care.

There's a moment about halfway through where a gun goes missing, and the way the camera tracks it is almost comical. It’s like the prop guy was begging the actors to notice the giant pistol sitting on the side table.

It’s nowhere near the class of The Devil to Pay! when it comes to wit. But it’s not trying to be. It’s just trying to get from the first body to the big reveal without losing the plot entirely. They mostly succeed, even if you’ll guess the killer about twenty minutes before the nurse does. 🕵️‍♂️

Sometimes the movie gets a little too cluttered. Too many people in the hall, too many doors opening and closing. You start to lose track of who is supposed to be in the library and who is lurking in the hallway. It’s a bit chaotic, honestly.

I caught myself rewinding once just to see if I missed a character. Turns out, it didn't matter. The movie just moves on regardless.

If you like these kinds of old-school whodunits, it’s a fun ride. Just don't ask too many questions about the forensics. The bullet wound thing alone is enough to make a doctor scream. Still, it’s a good way to kill an hour.