Bonehead-XL Despite being featured in reference books about the Universal Monster movies and included in similarly themed VHS collections, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" is not a horror movie. Not even kind of. It is, perhaps I should have seen this coming, a stodgy costume drama, through and through. There are the most marginal of marginal horror elements. A murder, a tomb, some drug induced hallucinations, a storm, a creepy shadow cast on a wall. Despite the Victorian setting, the movie totally lacks any foggy English atmosphere.It's not a bad movie, though it is slow paced. Claude Rains gives an excellent performance as Uncle Jasper. The character, as written, could have been an obvious villain, leeringly lusting after a girl twenty years younger then him, an opium addict, so clearly plotting revenge. However, Rains makes him a real person. Though Rosa is disgusted by him (A little unfairly), his love for her is true, his devotion sincere. He shows remorse for his action, especially at the end. His decisions aren't calculated, but rather rich with doubt. Rains' gravelly delivery is used extremely well. The rest of the cast too, notably Douglass Montgomery as the accused boy, who even makes the somewhat absurd old man disguise actually work. The girls seem like very stereotypical Victorian ladies at first but do eventually develop personalities. There's one really cool shot of a paper aging before our eyes, showing the pass of time brilliantly. Otherwise? I can't say I was too horribly interested in this one.

TheLittleSongbird Claude Rains, a consistently great actor, is reason enough to see any film. And Mystery of Edwin Drood is very good, it does a noble job adapting an unfinished book and works very well on its own. It does have pacing issues and the ending is far too melodramatic. The stylised Gothic sets though are very striking and the film is filmed most handsomely and further advantaged by generous direction from Stuart Walker. The atmosphere evoked really does give off a sense of unease. The dialogue is easy to follow and is written, while the story is tense and suspenseful. The film is short for a Dickens adaptation, but the mystery is always involving and respects the book, well with what they had to work with, rather than disembowelling it. The characters are believable, especially the tortured and creepy John Jasper. Claude Rains may have given better performances, but he is still exceptional, and from Rains you wouldn't expect any less. In fact all the cast acquits themselves well, particularly Douglass Montgommery and Heather Angel. David Manners doesn't have as much to do but is also good. To conclude, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Michael_Elliott Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)** 1/2 (out of 4) This Universal film gets called by some one of their horror pictures but I think that's a tad bit off from the truth as it's certainly more melodrama. In the film Claude Rains plays an opium addicted choirmaster who falls in love with a woman (Heather Angel) who just happens to belong to his nephew (David Manners). The woman is loved by a third man (Douglass Montgomery) willing to kill whoever gets in his way and soon the nephew goes missing. MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD is based on an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. It was unfinished because the legend actually died while writing it so the ending here is something the screenwriter came up with on his own. The film isn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination but in the end I think it's way too slow and boring in parts and not to mention that it takes forever to really get going. The biggest problem is the pacing from director Stuart Walker who never really seems to get control of the film. It contains way too many slow spots and I think aspects of the drug usage was trimmed to avoid any trouble with the production code. Even the ending features a shot that seems to have been cut back but I won't ruin it. What keeps the film watchable is the performance by Rains who has no troubled playing the obsessed man and I think he's quite believable in the part. Manners, Angel and Montgomery are also good in their parts and we also get to see Valerie Hobson who the same year was in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Speaking of that James Whale classic, this film shares many of the same sets, which is fun for fans to spot.

MartinHafer If you watch this film, FORCE YOURSELF NOT TO TURN IT OFF! Several times in the first few minutes I'd contemplated turning it off, as the film definitely started very slowly and felt a bit stilted. Fortunately, it improved--and the final half hour was terrific. Stick with this one.The film begins with Mr. Jasper (Claude Rains) hanging out in an opium den! Yet, when he leaves, he assumes a very respectable veneer and few would suspect that he's a major screwball. No, to outward appearances, he's a respectable gentleman and the last anyone would suspect of wickedness-- few, other than his niece, that is. She thinks he's a creepy man who is casting lustful glances her way. And, she's right--he wants her and in the worst way. However, Rosa Bud (yes, that is the character's name!) is engaged to marry Japser's nephew--Edwin Drood. And when Drood disappears and Jasper begins telling everyone his nephew is dead, suspicion falls on an innocent man, Landless (Douglass Montgomery). As the innocent man sees that the deck is stacked against him, he disappears and only comes back later in disguise--in order to investigate the crime himself. See the film to see what happens next.It seems that Charles Dickens died before he finished this, his final story. But, as people loved Dickens, it's not surprising several film studios decided to finish his story and make the film. In this case, it's never really in doubt that Rains was the killer--but in the book this was not the case. In fact, there's good evidence to suggest that Dickens had intended for Drood to return--alive and in one piece! But, even if this isn't Dickens' vision, the folks at Universal did weave a good story--and the best was the latter portion that Dickens did NOT put on paper. Well done all around--with a particularly noteworthy performance by Montgomery--who, oddly, did much better in his alter-ego than when he was playing a normal character! A few things to look for in the film include: the ridiculously melodious voice coming out of Rains when he sang which obviously is NOT his, Will Geer in a tiny role as a lamplighter 53 minutes into the movie and the lovely sets which were recycled from the latest Frankenstein movie!! Well worth seeing.