What makes a perfect murder mystery? (SPOILERS!)

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laffite
Posts: 1891
Joined: October 27th, 2022, 10:43 pm

Re: What makes a perfect murder mystery? (SPOILERS!)

Post by laffite »

That's an amusing point about The Big Sleep and the screenwriter.
Sabine Azema in Sunday in the Country
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Masha
Posts: 2004
Joined: January 16th, 2015, 10:22 am

Re: What makes a perfect murder mystery? (SPOILERS!)

Post by Masha »

My preference is: comedy murder mysteries of the 1930s. This skews my judgement because I will rate highly a movie with witty banter, visual humour and good chemistry between the leads even if the whodunnit aspect is relatively weak. A movie with a perfect mystery will not rank highly with me if the dialogue is perfunctory and it is obvious that the leads took the role simply to pay their bills.

One which fits the first criteria which I have watched recently is: The Riverside Murder (1935). It is a standard: police detective out of his depth has to deal also with a feisty female reporter. The chemistry between the two is nice if not outstanding, the banter is quick and witty and a few situations are quite funny. The mystery is a bit of a letdown because the perpetrator was mentioned several times but a very important aspect was kept from viewers. This aspect was key to establishing motive.

I therefore consider it a so-so murder mystery but a quite good movie.
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