One film genre that Hitchcock never fully embraced was the murder mystery. Murder! was one of the few that he made which was based on the novel Enter Sir John by Clemence Dane (Winifred Ashton) and Helen Simpson (who would provide the source novel for Hitchcock's 1949 movie Under Capricorn). Reportedly, the novel was the inspiration for a play, but there's not evidence of it being produced unless it was a local repertory.
The movie opens at a theatrical boarding house where Edna Druce is found dead, her head bashed in with a poker. Sitting nearby in a chair with a dazed look is Diana Baring, and the poker lies right next to her. She's tried, convicted and sentenced to hang. One of the jurors is actor Sir John Menier, who despite his vote, is not entirely convinced of Baring's guilt. He works with theater manager Markham and his wife Doucie to uncover the killer.
Hitchcock avoided doing whodunits because it just revolved around the ending and there wasn't much emotion that could be had from that. Murder has the opportunity to be a really good film but just seems to never fulfill its potential. Hitchcock said that much of the dialogue wasn't completed when filming began and he asked the cast to improvise after being told of the scene's scenario. He claimed that using this process, the cast wasn't as spontaneous as he would have preferred and this directing method was abandoned.
The movie does follow the novel closely at times but veers off towards the end (the killer is the same is both mediums). In the book, Sir John is not a jury member but just an observer (the fact that he is a jury member just makes absolutely no sense considering the conflict of interest that he had worked with Diana before the crime was committed). One of the suspects, Handell Fane, is described as eccentric in the novel and in the movie he's a cross dresser.
Like Juno and the Paycock there is a series of long takes with a bunch of talking heads and much of the cleverness of the movie doesn't take place until the last 20 minutes of the film. One sequence that is effective is Sir John and Markham discussing their next move, while we see a montage of Diana pacing her jail cell, a weathervane and the shadow of the gallows on the prison wall. Another memorable scene is while Sir John is shaving, he has an interlude which was accomplished by having a recording of Marshall's voice in the background and the orchestra playing off camera.
Herbert Marshall for me is just too dull as the lead, just seemingly too stuffy and listless (a common observation of him in a good deal of his screen roles). Norah Baring is even worse as the condemned woman just appearing overwhelmed in every scene she's in and not because of the characterization. Edward Chapman and Phyllis Konstam do are very good as the Markhams giving some light comic relief while still being an essential part of the investigation.
The New York Times was indifferent in the review saying the film was inconsistent and Variety said that the film didn't live up to its title and Hitchcock could have interjected a better sex angle into the production. Hitchcock claimed that the film did very well in London but not so much in the provinces. The Variety review also alluded to that the film wouldn't do so well in the USA as it seemed it was made for British audiences.
Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance a little over an hour into the film walking with a female companion, past the boarding house after Sir John and the Markhams leave it following their investigations.
While the movie was being filmed, a German language version, also directed by Hitchcock entitled Mary was being made as dubbing was still not prevalent at the time. A review of that will be in a couple of weeks.
Murder! (and Mary) is available on both DVD and Blu-Ray from Kino-Lorber and can be purchased here. Enter Sir John was a very difficult novel to find and seems to be out of print for some time, so eBay would be a good place to look for a copy.
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