The Murder in the Museum (1934)

This may well have had worthier undertones about the levels of corruption and deprivation of parts of America in the 1930s, but to get the message across succinctly, this would have had to improve considerably on the rather humdrum effort we are presented with here. A well-meaning city councillor is investigating some drug dealers when he is murdered. The usual format ensues as newspaper reporter (John Harron) and feisty gal (this time the daughter of the suspect - Phyllis Barrington) team up to get to the bottom of all. The acting is terrible - it's as if each line is being independently cued; and the dialogue when it does flows in a staccato, gloopy sort of fashion is wooden. The travelling museum environment offers a few quirkier characters (including a seer who ought to have been able to settle things far earlier!) but really, this is just ordinary afternoon filler.