I Watch Film: The Case Of The Frightened Lady

 

The Case Of The Frightened Lady (1940)

Lady Lebanon insists that her son, Lord William Lebanon, must marry his cousin Isla Crane to carry on the family bloodline. Isla, though Laby Lebanon’s secretary, finds the family home concerning. There’s a locked room forbidden to go in, and two sinister footmen. Lord William himself seems uninterested in marriage, preferring to dedicate himself to music. Richard Ferraby, an architect from London arrives and Isla falls for him. Also a regular visitor to the house is Dr Amersham, who seems to have a strange hold over Lady Lebanon. Or maybe she’s just sick?

In any case, the chauffeur reveals he knew Amersham in India, and has some juicy gossip. Everyone has to go to a local dance before he reveals all, following which he’s murdered, strangled with a red silk scarf. Various suspects are considered – the chauffeur was having an affair with the gamekeeper’s wife – before Dr Amersham is implicated, Lord William revealing that when he was in India he heard Amersham strangled a girl with a red silk scarf. The police set off, only to learn that Amersham himself has been murdered – strangled with a red silk scarf!

Lady Lebanon is magnificent, her son a slightly sinister fop. Some of the jokes are pretty good. The mystery itself is an excuse for the characters to hang around revealing secrets and making bon mots.

Watch This: Classic country house whodunnit with the eccentricity of several characters turned way up
Don’t Watch This: People act mysteriously, several get killed