Starring Rex Lease, Vera Reynolds, Sheldon Lewis, Mischa Auer, Martha Mattox
Directed by Frank Strayer
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
After a scientist's death, his heirs meet at the man's home for the reading of his will, a house riddled with secret passages and a cage holding the scientist's fearsome gorilla.
The presence of the gorilla brings a little novelty to this old dark house chiller, efficiently directed by Strayer, but on meager sets, and acted by a relatively no-name cast. The presence of a more accomplished star would help matters, with Auer probably the most interesting member of the cast, and no one else having much of an impact. I still found it enjoyable, with decent atmosphere, thanks to a howling wind and the shriek of the ape, although a music score would have probably helped matters, but it curiously lacks a true whodunit structure, with the murderer's identity being exposed relatively early and not as a great surprise. There are still a few worthwhile plot twists to follow. Also black actor Willie Best makes one of his early film appearances, credited as "Sleep N' Eat," and its unfortunately pretty much in line with his other stereotypical roles, without the quality of comic dialogue he would enjoy in some later films.
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