calvinnme The set up of the mystery is pretty conventional. An over-amorous leading man (Paul Cavanagh as Wylie Thornton) feels like he must mate with every woman between 18 and 35 who crosses his path. All the while he's telling each of them that she is the only one for him. In one case though Wylie over-achieves and actually marries one of the women (Natalie Moorhead as Alma). That is a mystery in itself since Wylie is quite the social climber yet when he marries he does so with his secretary, the two are not living together, and he treats her badly but expects her to keep their marriage a secret. Even stranger is she DOES keep their secret and continues on as his secretary! But Natalie Moorhead does shine in the part of the wife. She sleeps with Wylie when the urge hits her then ridicules him in the morning and demands extra spending money. Maybe that's why he seems to hate her so much - she's the only one of his women who seems to see him for the not so wily ham actor that he is.When Wylie is shot at his birthday party after the lights go out, there are a multitude of suspects. Two detectives are brought in on the case - Martin Gallagher (Sam Hardy), a young detective, is in charge. His subordinate, Jim Hanvey (C. Aubrey Smith), is a much older man. The younger detective is always going off half cocked and jumping to conclusions, and the older detective is methodical and does not confront the younger detective about his careless methods. He just investigates in his own quiet way. In the end, when the younger detective thinks he has solved the crime, Hanvey lets him believe he is right and take the credit because it doesn't mean false arrest for anyone (I'll let you watch and see what I mean), plus, as Hanvey tells the actual killer, he would have done the same in their shoes. Thus the ending is definitely precode in that an actual killer goes unpunished.The unexpected history lesson I was talking about is when one of the reporters is hounding the younger detective for information. When the younger detective tells the reporter something he thinks is ridiculous his retort is "says Hitler!". I guess a popular alternative phrase in 1933 would have been "nuts to you". In other words, in 1933 at least, Hitler was seen as just a buffoonish little man.I'd recommend this as one of the better poverty row productions I've seen. It really is a showcase for C. Aubrey Smith, who usually played supporting roles in films at the bigger studios. Just don't expect much in the way of sets because these smaller studios didn't have the money for such niceties.

MartinHafer During the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood made something like 1838234252847 murder mystery B-movies and "Curtain at Eight" is one of them. Like most of these films, it all hinges on a cliché--the dopey detective who is totally clueless. Chief Detective Martin Gallagher jumps to conclusions and comes up with theories and tries to make facts fit it (instead of vice-versa). If it weren't for another detective (C. Aubry Smith--in a very unusual role for him).When a two-timing actor is murdered, there are two obvious suspects. But, when one turns up dying, it looks really bad for the other suspect. It MUST be him, or so the dopey policeman thinks. But they realize that a chimp (mistakenly called a monkey throughout the film) might actually be the shooter...maybe. So who did it? And, more importantly, is there enough to separate this from the pack of films in the genre? Well, the answer is not a lot. It's very typical in most every way. The differences were the hero (Smith) and the very end when he learns who the real killer is. It's worth seeing if you like these sort of films but for most, it's quite skippable.

dbborroughs This is going to stick in my head as the movie with the chimp and a gun. As for the rest of it I'm not too sure. The plot of the film has a cad of an actor going around romancing all the ladies. Several fall for his charms, including the chimp, unfortunately someone puts an end to his romancing when he's shot during a party in the theater for his birthday. Two detectives, an really annoying young one who jumps to conclusions and an older one who is slow and plodding get onto the case and try to figure out who shot the cad. Okay mystery takes a long while to get going, indeed it's almost half over before the murder occurs and then the film kind of runs around from pillar to post trying to unravel what happened. Actually the younger detective goes running around and shifts the tone from one of slowly unfolding drama/mystery to silly comedic mystery. While the soapy set up to the murder kind of threw me since I expected a different sort of film, I did fall into it and was rather enjoying myself until the Nimrod detective showed up. Personally I much preferred the older gentleman who managed to fit in to the pace of the proceedings and who's quiet demeanor hid a man who knows more than he says. I wish we had more time with him. Over all an okay film, worth a look see if you run across it, though I'd try to pair it with something else.

JohnHowardReid C. Aubrey Smith is first billed in the movie credits (although Dorothy Mackaill precedes him in the advertising posters) and does a fine job too. Admittedly, he looks much older than we would expect, but he carries his detective role role with all his customary assurance, even though he is sometimes forced to play second fiddle to Sam Hardy's aggressively loud-mouthed but dim-witted policeman. The support cast is full of interesting faces, not the least of which is an amazingly well-trained chimp! Good to see reliables like villainous Paul Cavanagh and Syd Saylor plus comic relief Herman Bing and ego-bruising Russell Hopton in prominent roles. The girls are rather stylish too. I love their costumes! Despite an obvious "B" budget, director E. Mason Hopper infuses a reasonable amount of mystery and suspense into the movie's 61 minutes.