The Murder in the Museum

Another of Henry B. Walthall's 1934 movies (he played in twelve that year), this interesting curio, Murder in the Museum, is one of a handful directed by Melville Shyer, who made some 150 films as an assistant director. Mr Shyer handles this assignment with more than routine competence, even using track shots effectively on occasion. True, he is slightly let down by obviously sparse set dressing, and lackluster silent hero, John Harron, soon demonstrates why he quickly went down the ladder to playing uncredited bits. But super-svelte Phyllis Barrington (in her last of twelve movies) makes an engaging heroine and the support cast is filled out by tip-top people like John Elliott, Symona Boniface, Joe Girard and Donald Kerr, plus two wonderful shimmy dancers and other rakish sideshow denizens. Once the action moves away from the carny setting, alas, the plot becomes less interesting. All told, however, by producer Willis Kent's rock-bottom standards, Murder in the Museum stands as a classy production.