Brilliant and touching

A Disappointing Continuation

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

For another Chesterfield indie produced at Universal (like 1933's "Strange People"), 1935's "A Shot in the Dark" benefits from the presence of studio veteran Edward Van Sloan, here reunited with his "Dracula" co-star, Herbert Bunston (who died a month after completion). Based on a popular serial of the day, "The Dartmouth Murders," top billing goes to former gridiron athlete Charles Starrett, now 31 and soon to shift into Westerns, where he would play The Durango Kid until 1952 (he had co-starred opposite Boris Karloff in MGM's "The Mask of Fu Manchu" three years earlier). The actual sleuthing is done by dependable Robert Warwick, as Starrett's deductive father, who is quickly aiding the local sheriff when a student, Byron Coates, believed to have hanged himself, is revealed to have already been murdered before he was hung. Another student drops dead at the memorial service for Coates, who turns out to have a lookalike fellow classmate whom he despised, John Meseraux (both roles essayed by James Bush). The interesting supporting cast includes another Universal regular, Doris Lloyd ("Waterloo Bridge," "The Wolf Man"), as Byron's mother, and Eddie Tamblyn, father of Russ, grandfather of Amber, soon to retire from pictures (he died in 1957 at age 50). The killer might have been more difficult to spot were it not for a certain cast member's disappearance from the film halfway through.

This particular A Shot In The Dark has nothing whatsoever to do with Inspector Clousseau. It is however a B film murder mystery from the Poverty Row studio, Chesterfield Pictures. Before Charles Starrett decided to do westerns and much before he became the Durango Kid he starred in this film where he plays a college football star who returns home after a party and discovers his roommate James Bush hanging from their dormitory window. It was an attempt at covering up a murder of course as Bush was killed with a very sophisticated pistol that fires needle darts. As it happens Starrett is the son of criminologist Robert Warwick who is retained by the college to investigate the crime. As it also turns out young Bush was about to come into a large inheritance and that fact provides a whole load of suspects. The law which consists of a local sheriff and Barney Fife like deputy realize that they're out of their league investigating a homicide which turns into a string of homicides before the culprit is nabbed. They grouse a bit, but mostly follow Warwick's lead in the investigation. The lack of first class production values prevent me from giving A Shot In The Dark a higher rating. Still the film is not a bad one of its type.

An excellent cast and a very intriguing finish lift this film out of the usual poverty row sludge. It was a Chesterfield production but was filmed at Universal studio so it had a more polished look. Edward Van Sloan's imposing presence was put to good use in many a programmer mystery. While often a kindly doctor (or professor) he also popped up as a surprise villain in quite a few who done its.Student Ken Harris (Charles Starrett) gets a call from his father (Robert Warwick) to meet up with him in a nearby town. Ken is at a Victory party for Cornwall College Football team. Jean (Marion Shilling) wants to go with him but her chaperone, Miss Lottie Case (Helen Jerome Eddy) declines the invitation, as does Jean's brother, Byron. On the trip back his father voices his disapproval of his friendship with Byron. The next morning Ken awakens to find Byron has committed suicide - or so everyone thinks. Ken's father is an amateur criminologist and quickly discounts that theory. The doctor's examination finds that he was dead before the rope went around his neck. Jean is then questioned about her movements that night - she says she went to bed early but Ken's dad saw her at his hotel about 2 am. Sam, another boy, knows who visited Byron's room that night but before he can talk to Ken he, too, is murdered. Byron's murder was committed for money - he was due to come into a large inheritance on his birthday which is today!!! A third boy is then killed, John Mesereux, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Byron (they are both played by the same actor - James Bush). The script, was quite complex and the ending was a surprise. Ken's father found the solution had to do with a family scandal that only Byron's mother (Doris Lloyd) knew about. John was Byron's half brother, who the mother placed with a French family, hoping to put the shame behind her.Charles Starrett had a mammoth career - as a cowboy!! At the start he was often in society dramas but in 1936 he signed with Columbia and found everlasting fame as the Durango Kid. Marion Shilling was a lovely actress who started out in an early musical ("Lord Byron of Broadway" (1930)) but by the time she made "A Shot in the Dark" she was well entrenched in westerns. Eddie Tamblyn, who was the father of Russ Tamblyn, played one of the college boys.Recommended.

This is an entertaining murder mystery of the mid-1930s made on a budget so small it would fit in a child's pocket. The lack of production values and largely unknown cast do not however detract from the appeal of this unpretentious offering, for those who like creaky old mystery films and enjoy seeing the manners and mores of a bygone era. The only performance which really stands out is by Robert Warwick, who was a cut above the rest and does superbly well, old trooper and charmer that he was. The plot outline given for this film at the moment is entirely wrong, is obviously that of another film, and should be replaced, as this film is not about people in a room being murdered. It is set on a university campus, though no classrooms come into it, and it is all about someone inheriting when he turns 21 and whether he hangs himself or not. Some novel twists are introduced, an unusual murder weapon appears, and there are some far-fetched solutions. But it is all good fun for those who are not fussy. in other words, people who just like a good mystery film and do not demand modern stars, big budgets, car chases, and exploding buildings.