Murder by Television

Rating:
Summary: Shockingly lousy!
Review: I suppose we're all being murdered by television to some degree but here the title is somewhat miseading. Its not really murder BY television (as in forcing someone to watch Jim Carey, for example) but murder ON television.

This minor quibble aside, MBT is incomprehensible, dull, has offensive racial stereotypes and acting not unlike Plan 9. So what's not to like? I knocked off one star as this isn't one of Bella's films that also stars the Bowery Boys...sigh...

Oh - to add to the hilarity the print has more scratches than a driver's ed movie with some bits spliced out altogether. In short, its great! Highly reccomended.

Rating:
Summary: Shockingly lousy!
Review: In the early days of cinema, it seems like every third movie involved a murder, after which the authorities would not allow anyone to leave the house before the mystery was solved. Murder By Television is a rather poor representative of that type of movie. I like my plots to make sense, and this movie kept me rather confused from the very start. Worse, the final solution to the crime seems to me as if it was just made up out of thin air. The murder victim in this case is a television pioneer whose plans for a technological breakthrough are in high demand. As he is broadcasting his message to the few people lucky enough to actually have a TV, he suddenly collapses. There are several suspects, as one or two of the guests seem to be doing something akin to spying for a rival television company or two. The inventor's assistant, played by Bela Lugosi, is another prime suspect. There's another guy who keeps snooping around outside and sneaking in the house, but for some reason I don't understand the cops just keep throwing the guy out the door without asking him any questions. The ultimate solution to the crime partly relies upon one of the oldest tricks in the book, a plot device that was surely old and tired as early as 1935. Bela Lugosi is about the only thing this movie has going for it, but his character is by no means interesting. Almost everyone just seemed to be going through the motions on this one, and the result is a flat, forgettable film. The one exception is Hattie McDaniel, whom I was surprised but delighted to find in this pre-Gone With the Wind motion picture. Of course, her character is just one big stereotype, which makes her performance much less enjoyable than it would be otherwise.

Rating:
Summary: An exceedingly dull, disappointing whodunit
Review: In the early days of cinema, it seems like every third movie involved a murder, after which the authorities would not allow anyone to leave the house before the mystery was solved. Murder By Television is a rather poor representative of that type of movie. I like my plots to make sense, and this movie kept me rather confused from the very start. Worse, the final solution to the crime seems to me as if it was just made up out of thin air. The murder victim in this case is a television pioneer whose plans for a technological breakthrough are in high demand. As he is broadcasting his message to the few people lucky enough to actually have a TV, he suddenly collapses. There are several suspects, as one or two of the guests seem to be doing something akin to spying for a rival television company or two. The inventor's assistant, played by Bela Lugosi, is another prime suspect. There's another guy who keeps snooping around outside and sneaking in the house, but for some reason I don't understand the cops just keep throwing the guy out the door without asking him any questions. The ultimate solution to the crime partly relies upon one of the oldest tricks in the book, a plot device that was surely old and tired as early as 1935. Bela Lugosi is about the only thing this movie has going for it, but his character is by no means interesting. Almost everyone just seemed to be going through the motions on this one, and the result is a flat, forgettable film. The one exception is Hattie McDaniel, whom I was surprised but delighted to find in this pre-Gone With the Wind motion picture. Of course, her character is just one big stereotype, which makes her performance much less enjoyable than it would be otherwise.

Rating:
Summary: Not Even Twin Belas Can Save This One
Review: This is a dull mystery centered around the inventor of a television system. Suddenly, the inventor is killed right as he is making a broadcast. Whodunit? Prime among the suspects is Bela Lugosi, who plays the inventor's assistant. But no, it's not Bela. We discover him to be just another red herring as he is killed later on in the film. However, all is not lost. Bela's twin brother (?), a federal inspector, shows up and in only five minutes, unmasks the killer. Why couldn't he have shown up thirty minutes before and saved us all this dull talk? Look for Hattie McDaniel in an early role as the stereotypical servant. This obscure feature (it scarcely played any dates when originally released back in 1935) is recommended only for die-hard mystery fans and hardcore Bela fans.

Rating:
Summary: Why are people so shocked...
Review: to "discover" this isn't exactly a cinematic classic?? Just the title and the fact that Lugosi is in it pretty much tell that story (let's face it; after Dracula, Bela did nothing but B and C movies except for an occisional cameo).The one actor really wasted here is Hattie McDaniel. Be that as it may, the movie's amusing in its own Ed Woodish sort of way. Interesting more as a history capsule of sorts, due to the early reference to TV.