The Witness Vanishes

One of Universal's "Crime Club" series of the thirties, this movie has a few good moments and a decent premise, but it falls apart halfway through the story. I wouldn't be surprised if it worked better as a novel before it was adapted into a movie. An escapee from a lunatic asylum has announced his intentions to kill the four journalists whom he claims stole his newspaper away from him, and one by one his enemies meet their demise. But all is not as it seems.... There is some imagination in the plot, particularly in the second murder, but the imagination dries up when the guilty party leaves a clue so obvious that a six-year-old child would call Scotland Yard immediately. From that point on, the film loses its steam. Edmund Lowe is almost invisible for most of this movie, and the lion's share of the acting is done by the supporting cast. They're capable, but this story isn't very believable, and it's a far cry from Agatha Christie or Ellery Queen.