gridoon2018 "The Manor" seems to have a lot of the right ingredients in place: a manor (duh!), lots of snow outside, beautiful (if small-scale) sets and costumes, murders (or are they accidents?), suspects, conflicting testimonies, and some big names in the cast (the biggest of which, however, Peter O'Toole, appears only for about 5 minutes in total). Unfortuanetely, the film goes off the rails and overstays its welcome (as does the leading man's Inspector Clouseau - like accent). The solution to the mystery is farcical, which I don't necessarily mind; what I DO mind is that it's also a cheat, as in the very first flashback (which does not represent any character's perspective, so that's not an excuse) we see a man falling down the stairs wearing trousers, but at the end it turns out he was wearing....something else. Overall, "The Manor" is a nice try, but no cigar. **1/2 out of 4.

rstef1 This is an example of a movie where some judicious editing would have helped immeasurably.The first half is an interesting whodunit in which Tomas, a Bohemian detective (well played by Martin Dejdar), attempts to determine the true story behind the death of a servant in the Ravenscroft mansion. His interaction with the mistress of the house, her daughter and governess, and the servants is amusingly prickly for about an hour. Unfortunately, impatience begins to set in when this same cat and mouse, back and forth continues on for another 40 minutes with all parties lying for their own reasons. To make matters worse, the scriptwriter has the inspector become increasingly drunk, an unnecessary plot turn that derails the tone set in the first half and which struck me as being distinctly out of character for Tomas. Ultimately, the resolution is not interesting enough to warrant the time and effort spent reaching it.There are good performances from the whole cast, though top billed O'Toole is in the film only very briefly in flashbacks as the deceased patriarch. The set design and camera work are wonderful, top honors to art direction. Unfortunately, these positives are counterbalanced by an overlong tale muddled by useless plot contrivances.

whoinsamhill-1 Who done what can be answered thus: Lost man searches for his truth and finds it, with the help of five Manor ladies. The rest of the who done whats serve only to help the lost soul find his truth.In response to an earlier comment panning the script let me say this:"The toast of Vienna, there, we all know Patrick was sleeping with her." "I'm a good dancer." "Don't take that tone with me!" "Inspecting Inspector?" "I don't like foreigners."This to me is the best of all possible scripts!I have seen the movie thirty times (Walgreen's special) and still don't understand the metaphor of the wolves! But I know what I like. "What is the second coffin for?" "I didn't know Scotland yard accepted checks." "I didn't expect someone with such a dusky hue."My favorite movie of all time! The Manor

harrylongbaugh44 I thoroughly enjoyed The Manor. It was much better than anything else I have seen in this genre. The plot is pretty tricky and you have to pay close attention to the various clues you get. I think all of the women have good motives for the killing and the director Kenneth Berris does not tip his hand too early. I liked that kind of restraint. It can also be seen in the texture of the performances. I have seen some of his previous work, mostly on those huge interactive titles in the late nineties like Spycraft, Blown Away, and Eraser Turnabout. I thought he brought that same kind of multiple plot lines that merge into one. The cast: Peter O'Toole, Greta Scacchi, Edie McClurg and Gabrielle Anwar were at the top of their game and the visuals were pretty sumptuous. I would recommend this to people who like dry humor. I also thought Fay Masterson was sensational in the role of Dolly/ It was much better than Gosford Park, which won an Oscar. I give it 5 stars. *****