{"id":9521,"date":"2009-09-04T14:33:54","date_gmt":"2009-09-04T21:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9521"},"modified":"2021-01-29T17:33:44","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T00:33:44","slug":"mystery-of-edwin-drood-1935","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9521","title":{"rendered":"Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;We cannot always do what we wish without harming others.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Poster3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Poster3-300x235.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"235\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66877\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Poster3-300x235.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Poster3-1024x801.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Poster3-128x100.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Poster3-768x601.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Poster3-345x270.png 345w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Drood-Poster3.png 1297w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn opium-addicted choirmaster (Claude Rains) is jealous of his nephew&#8217;s (David Manners) betrothal to a beautiful young girl (Heather Angel). When a stranger (Douglass Montgomery) comes to town and falls in love with Rosa (Angel), further rivalries ensue, and Edwin Drood (Manners) suddenly disappears.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Charles Dickens Films<\/li>\n<li>Claude Rains Films<\/li>\n<li>Love Triangle<\/li>\n<li>Mysterious Disappearance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nCharles Dickens never finished his final serialized novel, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Mystery_of_Edwin_Drood\"><em>The Mystery of Edwin Drood<\/em><\/a>, about a young man who goes missing and may or may not have been murdered. For this cinematic adaptation, Universal Studios came up with a feasible ending, one which ultimately turns <em>&#8230;Drood<\/em> into a spooky murder mystery. The first half of the film is fairly standard fare, as we&#8217;re introduced to the trio of &#8220;suitors&#8221; interested in sweet Rosa Bud: it&#8217;s clear that while she has some affection for her life-long fiancee (Manners), she&#8217;s genuinely smitten with the handsome new arrival in town (Montgomery):<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Montgomery.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Montgomery.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66874\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Montgomery.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Montgomery-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Montgomery-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Montgomery-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and finds the covetous stares of her fiance&#8217;s uncle (Rains, excellent as always) utterly creepy. It&#8217;s not until the second half of the film that the story&#8217;s more atmospheric horror elements come into play, as we question how and why Drood has disappeared, all while suspecting that Rains &#8212; given his shadowy dealings with a cemetery caretaker, and his addiction to opium &#8212; may play a critical part in the mystery. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Rains2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Rains2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-66875\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Rains2.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Rains2-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Rains2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/Mystery-Edwin-Rains2-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While <em>Mystery of Edwin Drood<\/em> isn&#8217;t essential viewing for all film fanatics, it&#8217;s certainly recommended, particularly for Dickens fans &#8212; and Rains&#8217; performance is, as always, well worth a look. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Director Stuart Walker, who died of a heart attack in 1941, also helmed the Peary-listed titles <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=42778\"><em>The Eagle and the Hawk<\/em> (1933)<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18542\"><em>Werewolf of London<\/em> (1935)<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Claude Rains as John Jasper<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mystery-edwin-rains.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mystery-edwin-rains.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9523\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Zeffie Tilbury as &#8220;The Opium Woman&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mystery-edwin-tilbury.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mystery-edwin-tilbury.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9524\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine period detail<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mystery-edwin-period.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mystery-edwin-period.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9525\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>George Robinson&#8217;s atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mystery-edwin-cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/mystery-edwin-cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9526\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s recommended. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0026758\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1935\/03\/21\/archives\/the-cinema-turns-its-spotlight-on-the-mystery-behind-the-mystery-of.html\">NY Times Original Review (immediate spoiler alert)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allmovie.com\/movie\/the-mystery-of-edwin-drood-v103503\/review\">All Movie Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We cannot always do what we wish without harming others.&#8221; Synopsis: An opium-addicted choirmaster (Claude Rains) is jealous of his nephew&#8217;s (David Manners) betrothal to a beautiful young girl (Heather Angel). When a stranger (Douglass Montgomery) comes to town and falls in love with Rosa (Angel), further rivalries ensue, and Edwin Drood (Manners) suddenly disappears. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Charles Dickens Films Claude Rains Films Love Triangle Mysterious Disappearance Review: Charles Dickens never finished his final serialized novel, The&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=9521\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9521"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66878,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9521\/revisions\/66878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}