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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
If you like old British mysteries where people wear very high-waisted pants and talk very fast, then yes.
You’ll probably hate it if you need things to blow up or if you can't stand the crackly sound of early talkies.
It’s a movie that feels like a dusty book you found in the back of a library. It’s not perfect, but it has a certain charm that modern movies just don't have.
Gordon Harker is the main reason to watch this. He has this way of looking completely annoyed by everyone else in the room.
His lower lip is basically its own character. It hangs there, full of judgment and tea-fueled sass.
In this one, he’s playing a detective named Inspector Jimmie Silver. He’s trying to catch a guy who is basically a 1930s version of a hacker, using weird radio tech to spy on people.
There is a scene early on where Harker is sitting at a desk, and he just stares at a telephone for what feels like five minutes. It’s great.
You can tell he’s thinking about his lunch more than the crime. That’s the kind of acting I like.
It feels real, unlike the polished stuff we get now where everyone is always "on."
The plot centers on this inventor who has a "listening-in" device. For 1931, this was probably super spooky stuff.
Now, it just looks like a bunch of wooden boxes and wires that might catch fire at any second.
There’s a lot of talk about wires and signals. It’s funny how they try to make it sound scientific and dangerous.
It reminds me a bit of the tension in Chantage, but way more British and polite.
The villain is supposed to be this mastermind, but he mostly just stands in shadows and talks in a very deep voice.
I noticed one scene where the shadow on the wall doesn't quite match the actor's movement. It’s a small thing, but once you see it, you can't unsee it.
This movie doesn't hurry. At all. It moves like a cat that just ate a big bowl of cream.
Sometimes a character will walk across a room, open a door, close the door, and sit down before anyone says a word. The silence is heavy.
In modern movies, they would have cut that out. Here, you just have to live in it.
I found myself looking at the wallpaper in the background during these long pauses. It’s very busy wallpaper.
The sets feel very much like a stage play. You can almost hear the floorboards creaking under the actors' feet.
It’s not quite as polished as something like The Squaw Man from the same year, which had that big Hollywood budget feel.
This feels more like a group of friends got together in a cold London studio to make something fun.
There is a guy who plays a servant who has the most distracting eyebrows I’ve ever seen. They’re like two fuzzy caterpillars fighting on his forehead.
I missed half the dialogue in his scene because I was just watching them move.
Also, there’s a moment with a wall safe that is supposed to be tense. But the safe looks like it’s made of cardboard.
When the character opens it, the whole wall shakes just a little bit. I love that. It reminds you that movies are just people playing pretend.
The music is also very sparse. When it does kick in, it’s usually very loud and dramatic for no reason.
Like, someone will just walk into a room and the orchestra goes BAM! as if a ghost appeared.
It’s a bit messy. The ending comes out of nowhere and everything gets wrapped up way too fast.
One minute they are chasing the guy, and the next, everyone is standing around explaining how they did it. It’s a lot of talking.
But that’s okay. I didn't come here for a masterpiece. I came here to see Gordon Harker be a grump.
If you’re looking for a deep story, maybe go watch something else. But if you want to see a weird little piece of history, give it a shot.
It’s better than sitting through another superhero movie where everything is CGI. Here, the hats are real, the smoke is real, and the boredom on the actors' faces is definitely real.
It’s not as energetic as Sharp Shooters, but it’s got its own quiet rhythm.
Just don't expect it to change your life. It’s just a movie. And that’s fine.
One more thing—watch the way they handle the telephones. They treat them like they’re alien technology. It’s hilarious.
Anyway, I’m glad I watched it, even if I’ll probably forget the plot by tomorrow morning.
IMDb 5.3
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