THE ROGUE’s TAVERN

US, 1936, 70 minutes, Black-and-white.

Wallace Ford, Barbara Pepper, Joan Woodbury, Clara Kimball Young, Jack Mulhall, John Elliott.

Robert F. Hill.

Another of the multitude of supporting features from the US in the 1930s, thrillers, murder mysteries, casts of supporting players. However, the leader here is Wallace Ford who has 166 acting credits in the IMDb (and his life, very difficult childhood, then happy marriage and career, is almost a scenario in itself).

Wallace Ford and Barbara Pepper are departments door detectives and want to get married, going to motel, trying to find a justice of the peace, recommended to go to another hotel in which there is a whole range of strange characters. A number of people gather together, called mysteriously from interstate. Then they begin to be killed. And, the tavern being isolated, the murder has to be there – though, not quite, since an eerie character suddenly appears outside (and his part ultimately explained.

There is the host in a wheelchair and his wife. When the murders start, the two detectives take up the role of investigating, lighthouse, bars on Windows, everybody virtually imprisoned. While the female detective does a lot of good work, the male takes a superior role, often ignoring her – possibly offering some grounds of divorce before they are even married!

And, once again one of the least, or the least, possible suspects turns out to be a fierce, even raving, murderer. But justice of the peace does turn up…