"Sinister Hands" is a murder mystery that had all the familiar markings of a 1930's murder mystery. It took place on a large estate, there were a number of potential suspects, and the lights went out (which is my least favorite trope).
A bunch of people were at Richard Lang's home for a gathering. During that time we were introduced to several people and they all had some type of issue: jealousy, greed, or spite. Their issues weren't all with the same person as happens in some murder mysteries, but Richard Lang (Phillips Smalley) was the one who got the knife in the back.
In the room at the time of the stab in the dark (which is funny because "stab in the dark" indicates a good chance of missing/losing, but in old movies killers were frequently able to accurately stab in the dark) were ten guests. Just about every guest had at least a modicum of a motive.
Where "Sinister Hands" messed up is with the interrogation. The detective, Capt. Herbert Devlin (Jack Mulhall) grilled everyone but Judge David McLeod (Crauford Kent) which was a dead give away.
In the 30's if a person was grilled hard enough they would crack. Everyone Devlin interrogated adamantly pronounced their innocence which meant they were innocent. Back then anyone who was adamant about a thing was always telling the truth. So, all the likely suspects he interviewed were dismissed, which left the person he did not interrogate: Judge McLeod. Had "Sinister Hands" been a little less obvious the movie would've been much better.
"Sinister Hands" also didn't do itself any favors with the mandatory dumb cop who thinks they know who the criminal is with every clue ala Eugene Pallette in all of the Philo Vance movies.
A bunch of people were at Richard Lang's home for a gathering. During that time we were introduced to several people and they all had some type of issue: jealousy, greed, or spite. Their issues weren't all with the same person as happens in some murder mysteries, but Richard Lang (Phillips Smalley) was the one who got the knife in the back.
In the room at the time of the stab in the dark (which is funny because "stab in the dark" indicates a good chance of missing/losing, but in old movies killers were frequently able to accurately stab in the dark) were ten guests. Just about every guest had at least a modicum of a motive.
Where "Sinister Hands" messed up is with the interrogation. The detective, Capt. Herbert Devlin (Jack Mulhall) grilled everyone but Judge David McLeod (Crauford Kent) which was a dead give away.
In the 30's if a person was grilled hard enough they would crack. Everyone Devlin interrogated adamantly pronounced their innocence which meant they were innocent. Back then anyone who was adamant about a thing was always telling the truth. So, all the likely suspects he interviewed were dismissed, which left the person he did not interrogate: Judge McLeod. Had "Sinister Hands" been a little less obvious the movie would've been much better.
"Sinister Hands" also didn't do itself any favors with the mandatory dumb cop who thinks they know who the criminal is with every clue ala Eugene Pallette in all of the Philo Vance movies.