ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Sexylocher Masterful Movie

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

csteidler It's opera night at the Hollywood Bowl and tenor Gino D'Acosta (Leo Carillo) has everyone mad at him: his understudy, the conductor, two women he's been leading on, an aspiring composer upset because Gino won't read his opera….It seems only a matter of time before somebody knocks Gino off. A fortune teller has already told him: "If you sing tomorrow night, you will die." The story's not real unique but it's performed with panache by a solid and colorful cast. Chester Morris is a fast talking police detective who strikes up a romance with cute scientist Madge Evans. Grant Mitchell is earnest as the tenor's doctor friend. Frank McHugh has some good moments as the singer's secretary who keeps belting out bits of opera, much to the annoyance of maestro H.B. Warner.The setup of various characters' motives is rather involved and there is a fair amount of music, as well, so the story itself moves somewhat deliberately. The complicated plot eventually arrives at a surprising (and unlikely) resolution.It's certainly not the best B mystery ever made, but MGM's production values, the somewhat unusual setting, and a fun cast make it very watchable.

blanche-2 "Moonlight Murder," from 1936, is an operatic mystery. A tenor,Gino (Leo Carrillo), singing Manrico in "Il Trovatore" at the Hollywood Bowl is told by a fortune teller (Pedro de Cordoba) not to perform or he will die. Well, you can't keep a tenor from performing that way. But he does die under mysterious circumstances.Chester Morris plays the detective brought in to investigate. It's a pretty good mystery, and the detective soon learns there are plenty of suspects, including the Gino's cover, who wants to go on in his place, various women, and an escaped lunatic who is angry that Gino did not sing his opera.Some people complained here that there was too much opera. Frankly I could have used more. Of course I love Trovatore. I actually thought the first aria done by Carrillo (who was dubbed by Alfonso Pedroso) was quite good. Most of the singing was okay despite some screechy high notes.A little baby boomer trivia: For us boomers, Carrillo was Pancho on "The Cisco Kid," and the Cisco Kid was Duncan Renaldo - who is listed in the cast here. As a friend of mine used to say, "foreshadowing." Ah, Pancho; ah, Cisco.

gridoon2018 There haven't been many musical murder mysteries in the history of cinema: "Murder At The Vanities" (1934) is one, "Moonlight Murder" is another. This is a film of average quality for the most part, but it does offer three novelties: the genre mix, the highly original murder method (which I have only ever seen used in one more film, a "Mr.Wong" entry, which however was made a few years later, so "Moonlight Murder" gets extra points for originality), and the unexpectedly tearjerking finale, which, to be honest, did nearly make me cry, thanks to exceptional work by the three actors involved (of course writing their names here would be a spoiler). Also notable is Benita Hume, who shows more cleavage than you might think was "acceptable" in a 1930s post-Code film! **1/2 out of 4.

dbborroughs Before a rehearsal at the Hollywood bowl, philandering tenor is warned of danger if he sings in the next nights opera by a mystic, The tenor laughs it off. When he's attacked by an escaped maniac everyone thinks that perhaps there is something to it. As show time draws near signs of danger increases until the tenor is killed during a performance in front of 20,000 witnesses. Things get complicated as more mayhem happens. Breezy murder mystery with Chester Morris and Leo Carrillo is the sort of thing that you might as well just sit and enjoy since odds are you're not going to figure it out (The clues are a late in the game revelation-revealed semi fairly). It's a got a great cast some good laughs (of the right sort) and a nicely complicated plot. If there is any real flaw its that there is a too much music. There isn't anything wrong with the opera scenes by themselves, rather its that this film barely runs over an hour and the lengthy singing scenes make the rest of the film feel rushed. Worth a look if you run across it.