Cristi_Ciopron A humorous whodunit with Charley Grapewin as the wisecracking patriarch, Toomey, Hedda Hopper, and Evalyn Knapp in a supporting role (as the impersonator of the prodigal granddaughter), directed by Christy Cabanne. Fred Kelsey plays the sheriff.It's a Mascot movie from '35 (I would of supposed a later year).Good score.There's a more ambitious scene, that of the granddaughter's fright, when she leaves the trophies room, a dart is blown, etc.. Some of the elements, like the scary mask, or the secrets of people's lives, will return in a later movie of Cabanne, one with Lugosi.Structurally, there are a few resemblances with a movie made by the same mindless director, with Lugosi, the one I already alluded to: a magician, a physician, a mask.Another resemblance may be the slightly ambiguous relation of an oldster (the naughty tycoon here, the creepy physician in the later movie) with a young woman; here, allowed for the familial quirk. Perhaps also the goofy joviality.

Case While One Frightened Night is definitely not the kind of movie that you would call a classic or the kind that introduced new ideas or added new twists to the murder mystery genre, still it is a perfect little B movie in its own simple way.Really, there is nothing new here: we have the usual set of characters (the cute blonde, the dumb police guy, the grumpy but wise old man, the maid and a clumsy magician as comic-relief), the usual settings (old dark house, complete with hidden corridors) and a somewhat loose plot concerning the old guy's fortune that he plans to give away either to his relatives and employees OR to his long lost daughter. But still, everything works so fine, the characters are played out so well, the dialogues are excellently written and the film moves at such a fast pace that you will just have to sit back an enjoy the fun.The amusing title sequence already sets the mood for the spooky, but fun atmosphere and the story kicks into high gear when the aforementioned daughter show up... and not one, but two of them! And from that moment it just does not let down, we have great plot twists, witty dialogue, lots of action and even a masked killer, hiding in the shadows. If you like murder mysteries OR old dark house movies OR comedies OR just the typical, well made '30s B-movies then you simply can not go wrong with this little gem.

[email protected] I have to agree with Eric Miller; this film is a GEM! A neat intro, all-star cast (for 1935) and an interesting story by the Great Stuart Palmer make this a top-notch film! If you're a fan of "Old House" films, this is a MUST-see!There is a "goof" listed for this film: "A room which has been locked since 1915 contains up-to-date (1935) fixtures".Whoever said that didn't watch the film closely, because they are incorrect! The locked room HAS NO visible lights -- the old man uses a candle when he enters with his niece. The room they must be talking about is the "trophy room", complete with mummies, skulls, daggers and all sorts of "weird" things! (Two different rooms).Norm Vogel www.normsfilms.com

Richard_Harland_Smith Greed is the key in Christy Cabanne's ONE FRIGHTENED NIGHT, which begins with the heirs of elderly Jasper Whyte (THE WIZARD OF OZ's Charley Grapewin) assembling to learn the division of his $5,000,000 estate. Among the expectant are Jasper's wastrel nephew Tom (Regis Toomey), flighty daughter Laura (Hedda Hopper, in DRACULA'S DAUGHTER the following year), ambitious son-in-law Arthur (Arthur Hohl), family doctor Denham (Lucien Littlefield) and scornful housekeeper Elvira (Rafaela Ottiano, later of Tod Browning's THE DEVIL-DOLL). The crotchety Jasper surprises his relations by promising them all $1,000,000, barring the return of wayward granddaughter Doris Waverly before midnight-- but come the witching hour, Jasper finds he must choose between two young women claiming to be the grown up Doris, one demure and polite (Evalyn Knapp) and the other (Mary Carlisle, later in DEAD MEN WALK) sharp-tongued and accompanied by pesky variety magician The Great Luvalle (Wallace Ford, billed as Wally). When one of the Dorises turns up dead by poison, local sheriff Jenks (Fred Kelsey) and deputy Abner (Adrian Morris, brother of Chester), have their hands full trying to keep the survivors from either killing one another or falling victim to a masked fiend dealing death through the business end of an Amazon blow gun.Former D. W. Griffith protégé Cabanne kicks off this Mascot Pictures quickie with a credit sequence promising a fun sixty minutes plus: as lightning flashes and rain pelts a miniature mockup of an old dark house, the shutters burst open to reveal titles written on window shades drawn down by a bare, pallid arm. After the introduction of the cast via a series of cute vignettes, the camera (cinematography is credited to both Ernest Miller, who later shot Sam Fuller's THE STEEL HELMET, and William Nobles) pushes in through the drawing room windows, upsetting the drapes and telegraphing the dark and stormy atmosphere that will prove `a swell night for a murder.' The script by Wellyn Totman (from a story by mystery writer Stuart Palmer) thwarts expectations by allowing the crusty Jasper Whyte to survive beyond the anticipated expiration date of a cinematic septuagenarian with his fingers curled around a multi-million dollar fortune. Although Wallace Ford steals the show (`Stick around this morgue long enough and they'll be saying goodbye to you with flowers!'), Mary Carlisle proves his equal in doling out the jibes (`I've played tougher houses than this!')-- it's a pity that Totman's script requires her to manifest more romantic interest in Regis Toomey than Ford (who would appear for Cabanne again as the magic-obsessed Babe Hansen of THE MUMMY'S HAND).