Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

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

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

bkoganbing This Edgar Wallace mystery got two versions of which this is the second one. In addition one for experimental television was also made of The Case Of The Frightened Lady.The case is set in Mark's Priory the ancestral estate of the Lebanons who apparently down through the years have had a habit of marrying their cousins. Right down to today the Dowager Lady Lebanon Helen Haye wants another cousin Penelope Dudley Ward to marry her son Marius Goring the current Lord Lebanon. But she's got eyes for architect Patrick Barr who is visiting the estate to make renovations.Ward is the frightened lady of the title. For some reason she's got some bad vibes about the place and the people that inhabit it. But she's practically being kept a prisoner. That will change when the family chauffeur who seems to be one of the few normal people on the place is murdered. All signs point to a disgraced doctor Felix Aylmer who has a strange hold on the Lebanon family. Then he gets murdered and Scotland Yard is once again starting from scratch.Haye is some piece of work. She's so desperate to have Ward marry Goring that she's even willing to overlook a lot to get Ward to marry Goring and continue the family line.This is a good murder mystery as only the English can do them. It all leads up to a shocking climax where one of the principals steps way out of character or more like takes off a mask.

Alex da Silva Penelope Dudley-Ward (Isla) is the frightened lady of the title. From the first shots of the film when she screams at the shadows that are following her in the house, you can't help but laugh and fear for your oncoming experience. It doesn't say much when the comedy detectives are the best thing about the film. It is woefully acted by all the main players who deliver their lines in that clipped English which is just plain fake – the word "exactly" becomes "exectly" – it's just nonsense. The film does keep you watching to see how things pan out but it ends just as badly as it started with some laughably crass dialogue being spouted by the appalling Helen Haye (Lady Lebanon) accompanied by a hysterical closing head shot of her. It's not meant to be funny, though. A nice, spooky venue is wasted in this badly acted effort.

Spikeopath The Case of the Frightened Lady is directed by George King and based on a play by Edgar Wallace. Edward Dryhurst adapts to screenplay, Jack Beaver scores the music and Hone Glendinning is the photographer. It stars Helen Haye, Marius Goring, Penelope Dudley-Ward, Patrick Barr, Felix Aylmer, Ronald Shiner and George Merritt.Mark's Priory: The ancestral English family home of the Lebanon's. Mark's Priory: Home to secrets, suspicion and possibly a psychotic murderer.One of a number of old British films newly discovered for DVD release, George king's movie is a mystery thriller in the classic "old dark house" mode. Edgar Wallace's play had already been adapted to the screen in a 1932 film version directed by T. Hayes Hunter, with two subsequent television versions appearing in 1938 and 1983. Clearly it's a source story that has proved popular with producers. Although creaking with its undoubted stage bound origins, film delivers the goods for those willing to accept that the first half is driven by dialogue and character development. After an initial "shriek" opening, the picture settles into a literary stride where there's no real sense of impending menace or creepy atmospherics: in fact a good portion in this quarter is jovial as plot takes in major characters at a community dance party. However, conversations are relevant and it seasons the ingredients for the stew about to be cooked.Once back at Mark's Priory, we at last reach the realms of mystery/thriller land and the hunt and guess who begins. Characters are strong for the formula; a head of the family who appears to be hiding something, a doctor who may have an iffy past, shifty footmen servants and naturally a pretty girl catching the eye of some debonair suitor. Throw in some shadowy photography by Glendinning and a terrific piano led score by Beaver, and fans of films of this ilk have much to enjoy; and thankfully the big "reveal" of the story is not too shabby either. Cast are well tuned for the material, particularly Goring, Aylmer (isn't he always?), Shiner and Merritt, the latter two of which making a wonderful double act as the intrepid coppers investigating the dastardly goings on. While keep an eye out for a young Torin Thatcher impacting with a character marker for future roles to come. 7/10

JohnHowardReid Originally filmed in 1932 with Emlyn Williams (making his movie debut) and Gordon Harker (as Sergeant Totty), the movie was such a success that Wallace—reversing the usual procedure—turned his script into a stage play in which Williams (as Lord Lebanon) and Harker repeated their screen roles. Also in the 1932 movie, titled The Frightened Lady, were Cathleen Nesbitt as Lady Lebanon, while the lovely Belle Chrystall was Miss Crane, and Norman McKinnel, Inspector Tanner. A Gothic thriller of the old school, The Case of the Frightened Lady spins an intriguing web of mystery and horror almost from the very first. I must admit I was not impressed by its trick opening which was obviously designed to fool not only the audience but the critics as well. At the conclusion of the under-the-credits sequence, director George King commences the movie proper with an odd scene in which Helen Haye faces the camera, while she and Marius Goring declaim their lines in full-blown theatrical style, their voices raised to reach the back of the gallery. At any second we expect the camera to pull back to reveal that Hayes and Goring are standing on an actual theatre set, as was done, for example, in The Hollywood Stadium Mystery (1938). But no! Before the scene has even concluded, both Haye and Goring suddenly abandon their grease-paint posturing and revert to more natural acting. So this was an expected "surprise" that happily didn't eventuate.Another critical surprise lies in the writing and acting of Ronald Shiner's part. Although the sergeant is designed as comic relief, Shiner, for once, doesn't over-do the mugging and even plays the role with a degree of intelligence. Needless to say, we expect gifted performances from Haye, Ward and Goring, but at times Shiner even manages to hold his own in this company. However, an even bigger revelation in the acting department lies in the excellent portrayal by minor character actor George Merritt who plays a major role here and even manages to steal scenes from the principals.King has handled his generous budget in fine style, making splendid use of his sets which, aided by Hone Glendinning's noirish lighting, provide plenty of spooky atmosphere. This brooding, riveting invocation of suspense, allied with rapid pacing and charismatic acting (even from minor players like Warwick, Thatcher and Scott), inexorably plunges us so inescapably into the maelstrom that we don't notice obvious contrivances in the plot and details that simply don't stand up to scrutiny. The script's faults, in fact, are inconsequential. While actually watching the story unfold, it remains a terrifyingly suspenseful movie experience.In the title role, the charmingly aristocratic yet disarmingly sensitive Penelope Dudley Ward exhibits just the right note of fragile beauty as the imperiled heroine.