Rynox 1931

Who Killed Benedik?

6.0 / 10   1 vote(s)
Drama

Things are not all well at Rynox House, where the company is on the verge of collapse. At the same time, its senior partner, FX Benedik, keeps receiving threats from the disgruntled Boswell Marsh, who is seen in town buying theatre tickets and revolvers. As the Rynox staff, including the young Tony Benedik, work to keep the business afloat, FX invites Marsh to settle his grievances at his house one fateful night....

Release Date 1931-11-04
Runtime 47m
Directors Michael Powell, Geoffrey Faithfull, Arthur Grant
Producer Jerome Jackson
Writers Philip MacDonald, Michael Powell, Jerome Jackson, Philip MacDonald, Joseph Jefferson Farjeon

With his eponymous company facing bankruptcy, owner "F.X. Benedik" is found slain and it falls to his son "Tony" (John Longden) to try to track down the curmudgeonly "Marsh" (Stewart Rome) who has an axe to grind with the business and might be implicated. This is probably only notable as being Michael Powell's directorial debut - and for a talkie only just out of nappies, there is quite a lot of movement and outdoor photography to help distinguish it from many of it's more drab, stage-bound, contemporaries. Otherwise, though, it's an unremarkable little whodunit with little jeopardy and way too much script. Rome does a decent enough job as the irritating "Marsh" and Dorothy Boyd ("Peter") brings a touch of glamour, though little of substance, as the mystery gradually unfolds - but don't expect much of a challenge for your own little grey cells, that's all a bit of a no-brainer.

CinemaSerf