PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

HeadlinesExotic Boring

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Rainey Dawn A costume party turns bad when one of the guests is found murdered. The police are called in to investigate. An average whodunit of the 1930s.This one is a very typical murder-mystery of the 1930s. It's nothing special but it's not a bad film. It's not a total snore-fest but it's nothing to get excited over.I might have enjoyed this movie a bit more if there were actors I found interesting playing in it. Again, this is not a bad film but could have been better with some interesting actors.Watch this one if you are simply interested in watching older crime-mysteries... it's not all that bad. 4/10

csteidler Charles Starrett is a writer of murder mysteries who gets involved in—yes, a murder mystery. Nothing too original in Green Eyes, but a fair assortment of suspects and intriguing clues help maintain interest. Once again, it's a murder in a big old house in which nearly all of the film's action occurs. The event which sets the story in motion is the murder of the house's owner, one Steven Kester, during a costume party, and it's quickly established that his guests, his employees and even his granddaughter are not particularly sad to see him go. Even his butler can't find anything nice to say about him:Inspector Crofton: "What kind of a man was Mr. Kester to work for?" Lenox the butler: "He was a Simon Legree, sir. It's been most difficult to put up with him these past 20 years."For the first half of the film, John Wray as the inspector barks out a good half of all the dialog spoken as he rounds up clues and lays out the facts and motives. In the second half, we see more of Starrett as he quietly investigates while more noisily presenting a rather foppish front to most of the group. Shirley Grey and Dorothy Revier, as the two women involved in the case, are given just enough screen time to hint that their characters could contain some interesting depths; but alas, a 70-minute movie holds limited space for developing character studies. Nice touches: the goofy getups sported by the guests in the opening costume party and ensuing interrogation; the "green eyes" of the title; and a clever closing bit with Starrett at his typewriter.

kidboots Dorothy Revier, a former Wampas Baby Star of 1925, specialized in vamps, and in many of her films she was the only reason to watch them. Not this film though, which boasts a strong cast (Charles Starrett, Shirley Grey) and an ending with a twist. With most of the filming done on a palatial mansion set from Universal, the production values were high.The guests at a midnight masquerade are shocked to find their host Stephen Kester (Claude Dillingwater) has been stabbed to death. Meanwhile Kester's grand daughter Jean (Shirley Grey) has eloped with Cliff (William Bakewell) who informs her that not only has he tampered with the guest's car ignitions so they can't be followed, he has cut the phone wires as well. The police stop them and as suspects, they are taken back to the house.Mystery writer Bill Tracy (Charles Starrett, surprisingly providing comic relief) is eager to help but only succeeds in upsetting the police. Everyone has an alibi of sorts but Lenox, the butler, reveals that Kester was greatly disliked, and that he overheard Kester and Hall (Arthur Clayton) having a business argument. When Cliff, who seems to be the most suspicious character in the film, is questioned he denies he and Jean are anything but good friends and Mrs. Pritchard's (Dorothy Revier) evidence is damning - making Jean a prime suspect. It then comes out that Kester had disinherited Jean but had not signed a new will. Jean's personality does not help matters - she comes across as a spoiled brat, annoyed because her grandfather has cut off her allowance.Things seem to be getting somewhere when Hall, who is chief suspect (Kester robbed him of valuable mining stock in 1914) is found shot - an apparent suicide. There is even a note explaining things. In it Hall tells of his friendship with Jean's mother and how, because of Kester's greed, she was forced to work long hours to support herself and her baby - work that eventually killed her. Hall decides to get revenge.....That's not the end and the twist is what separated "Green Eyes" from all the other mystery films that flooded theatres in 1934. Recommended.

rsoonsa This somewhat less than rewarding production is based closely upon a novel by Harriette Ashbrook: "The Murder Of Steven Kester", to a point of its inclusion of substantial swatches of Ashbrook's stilted dialogue, but since the original book remains safely confined within a rather narrow spectrum of sleuthing utilized by the English writer, it can be no surprise that the film is also dull and generally predictable. Action opens briskly with assistant director Melville Shyer, who also contributes the script, effectively leading a congregation of extras during a lively costume party sequence, this festivity organized at the home of wealthy Steven Kester by his granddaughter Jean (Shirley Grey) as a diversion to facilitate her unobstructed elopement with beau Cliff Miller (William Bakewell). Here the pace of the film begins to flag as journeyman director Richard Thorpe mishandles the tempo following discovery of Steven Kester's corpse, decorated with stab wounds, and a homicide investigation then begins under the supervision of Captain (or Chief, at times Inspector) Crofton (John Wray) who fails to acknowledge any recognizable form of correct investigative police procedures as he browbeats a large contingent of available suspects. Needless to report, many of these latter have apparent motives to have committed the slaying, and if Crofton neglects one of them, a meddlesome crime novelist, Michael Tracy (Charles Starrett), a recurring lead character as "Spike Tracy" in the publications of Ashbrook, is on hand to abet the detective. Viewers, however, will not require similar assistance, due to the story hardly being abstruse enough to challenge most armchair detectives. Production values for this low tier Chesterfield Pictures item are expectedly paltry, but some performances from players are to be valued, in particular a brief turn by Lloyd Whitlock, and neatly developed characterizations from Grey and Dorothy Revier as female suspects. Director Thorpe, ever respectful of his cast members, and especially of those whom are stage trained, leads with a loose rein.