Customer Reviews

Mystery of Edwin Drood [VHS]

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My expectations weren't very high for this movie. I was expecting it to be much like THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE, having a few creepy scenes, but no good acting to make the rest of the movie interesting. EDWIN DROOD, however, succeeded on all levels. It was surprisingly funny (usually intentional) and light in certain scenes, and suberbly moody and dark in the others. The acting was excellent. I was especially impressed with Douglass Montgomery as Neville and Zeffie Tilbury as the old opium lady. But, if you're like me, you'll pick up this movie because it stars Claude Rains. And you won't be disappointed! If you think Claude Rains is talented at playing creepy, wait until you see him playing stoned and creepy!

Film adaptation of Dicken's Byzantine novel about an odd, tortured, drug-addicted choirmaster who vies for the affections of an attractive young woman who is visiting his village. But when things don't go his way, he decides to eliminate what he perceives to be his only obstacle, her fiance (and his nephew), Edwin Drood. Dicken's novel was left half completed at the time of his death and simply ended with Drood missing. In both film versions (there's a 1993 British remake), it's decided that Drood is murdered, and, rather ironically, they picked the same murderer from among Dicken's stable of eccentric characters. Rains is superb in his fourth film as a opium addict (who's a cathedral choir master!) who lusts after delicate Heather Angel. During a raging storm on Christmas Eve, Rains strangles Manners and after dumping the corpse in a quicklime pit, tries to pin the murder on Montgomery. A gothic film with shadowy photography, it's pretty creepy due to its very unusual storyline and twists in logic.

Claude Rains stars as opium addicted choirmaster of Cloisterham cathedral, John Jasper in the 1935 Britsh production of Dickens' dark unfinished final novel, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". Rains is hopelessly infatuated with Rosa Budd played by Heather Angel, the fiance of his nephew Edwin Drood, played by David Manners. Unknown to him they've mutually cancelled their arranged union.
Rosa had fallen in love with Neville Landless played by Douglass Montgomery, newly arrived from Ceylon to Cloisterham with his sister Helena played by Valerie Hobson.

In a jealous rage Rains kills his nephew Drood and entombs him in the catacombs courtesy of information supplied to im by the drunken caretaker Durdles played by Forrester Harvey. Rains implicates Montgomery for the crime. Rains' treachery however, will not go unpunished.

Of note was thr familiar looking face of Zeffie Tilbury playing the Opium Lady. Upon investigation she was the same actress who played Grandma in a classic 1936 Little Rascals short.