Michael_Elliott The Rogues' Tavern (1936) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Another film in the long line of "old dark house" or "murder-mysteries" as Jimmy (Wallace Ford) and his fiancé Marjorie (Barbara Pepper) show up at an old hotel to get married but there's no Justice of the Peace. Instead they find a dead body and a bunch of suspects and soon the threat of more deaths is hanging over everyone so Jimmy must try to solve the case.THE ROGUES' TAVERN isn't the greatest movie ever made but it's certainly interesting enough to keep you entertained throughout its 69 minute running time. If you're familiar with these types of films then you already know that it seems there were at least a hundred of them released throughout the 1930s. Everything from killer gorillas to killer madmen to wack job women were suspects and each one always featured various objects that kept them all familiar. It could be trapped doors, the whole thunder spells and usually there was a man and woman team solving them.This film at least has a pretty good cast including Ford. He worked in a various of film genres but he makes for a good lead her as he's quite charming and manages to hold your attention. Pepper, Joan Woodbury and Clara Kimball Young are also good in their roles. The direction here isn't anything overly special but at the film moves at a nice pace and there aren't any major issues. The ending is quite nice, although I must admit that the shot of the possible victims faces before and after the killer is identified was quite funny.

csteidler The Rogues Tavern starts out promisingly: an opening scene features a nearly silent, deliberately-paced panning shot of the hotel commons area and its various guests, all sitting quietly. The camera pauses on each face or silent group, finally closing in on Joan Woodbury reading cards and delivering a fortune to a fellow guest—a reading that ends suddenly when she turns up the ace of spades, the card of death! It's a wonderfully atmospheric setup that promises a spooky tale of hidden motives and secretive characters, possibly with a touch of the supernatural mixed in.Alas, along come Wallace Ford and Barbara Pepper as a pair of runaway department store detectives who have apparently eloped with no better plan than to run off into the night hoping vaguely to find a justice of the peace and a hotel room (or, as Ford's character notes, if the justice doesn't show up, then they'll need two rooms).The rest of the show isn't bad; it just doesn't move fast enough or create enough suspense to keep me from noticing that...well, for example, that Joan Woodbury is wasted for the rest of the movie. Instead of developing her character as a sort of mystic (real or phony), she is given nothing to do but just wring her hands a lot and say thing like, "We're all doomed!" Or from noticing that Wallace Ford is too confident by half in his detecting skills, and heroine Barbara Pepper is too polite to him by more than half. (Why doesn't she smack him when she's got an important clue and he tells her to leave him alone and won't listen?) Still, there is some atmosphere to be enjoyed here. And it's not every mystery criminal who frames a friendly dog for murder. The murderer also gets in some fun evil cackles in the climactic scene when preparing to finish off the remaining guests in one fell swoop. Yes—fans of evil cackles should not miss this one.

kidboots From the start Wallace Ford was a great character actor. He was not just another cardboard leading man but bought another dimension to his roles, as the narrow minded boyfriend Joan Crawford leaves behind in "Possessed" (1931) and a brash young policeman, seduced to do wrong by a luscious Jean Harlow in "The Beast of the City" (1932). In "Freaks" (1932) he seemed to have a real sympathy for his co-stars - it really came across in the movie. By the mid 30s he was finding character work in mystery/ horror movies.After a flashy early role as the femme fatale Sally in "Our Daily Bread" (1934), Barbara Pepper didn't take advantage of her chance at stardom and was to alternate between uncredited parts in As and leads and supports in poverty rowers.Jimmy Kelly (Wallace Ford) is a private detective and wants to marry Marjorie Burns. Barbara Pepper looks so much like a young Lucille Ball. Apparently they were great friends. Jimmy and Marjorie are sent to gloomy Red Rock Tarvern, where a Justice of the Peace happens to be. Clara Kimball Young, who was a great star of the early silents, gets a part she can really sink her teeth into here, as Mrs. Jamison, the strange manager of the tavern. They arrive in the middle of a murder. Someone has mysteriously sent telegrams to the guests telling them to meet there but no-one seems to know who sent them!!! A wild police dog has savaged one of the guests and he has died. By the time the guests are in their rooms the wild dog has struck again. Jimmy tries to telephone the coroner but discovers the wires have been cut. The dog (is it Rin Tin Tin!!! - no it's Silver Wolf!!!) almost strikes again with Marjorie the intended victim but Jimmy is convinced a human is responsible and finds the dog and befriends it.It is a diverting film about jewel smugglers, an elderly man who is supposed to be in a wheelchair but isn't and a mad inventor. Very "old dark house" just not as good!!!Recommended.

wes-connors "A collection of travelers has gathered at the 'Red Rock Tavern', an old hotel, during a thunderstorm. All arriving for different reasons, the group is suddenly drawn together by the murder of one of the guests. Two store detectives staying at the hotel try to solve the case as other bodies turn up and the terror increases with each passing moment," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.An eclectic cast makes this "old dark house" variation fairly entertaining, albeit structurally flawed. The leading man and woman are "store detectives" Wallace Ford (as Jimmy Kelly) and Barbara Pepper (as Marjorie Burns). But, the real treat is seeing former silent film superstar Clara Kimball Young (as Mrs. Jamison), in one of her more meaty later year roles. The matronly Ms. Young was one of the biggest stars in films during 1913-1919, and she still has her way with the camera.***** The Rogues Tavern (1936) Robert F. Hill ~ Wallace Ford, Barbara Pepper, Clara Kimball Young