The Moonstone is the 1934 movie that was based on Wilkie Collins 1915 novel of the same name. I used to see that book in the used bookstores back in the 70's and 80s. It was often on the mysteries shelves but I never read it. The screenplay's by Adele Buffington and the direction's by Reginald Barker. Reginald was born in my home town of Winnipeg in 1886. His family moved to Scotland and later to California where he started directing shorts in 1912. He directed his first feature in 1914 and by the time he stopped in 1935 he'd directed 77 films. He was 48 when he retired, he died 10 years later.
The movie changes the book's Victorian setting to the 1930s. The Wikipedia tells me that and the fact that this is the 3rd version of the book on film. There were two silent versions, one in 1909 and the other in 1915, I have seen neither. The 1934 movie was 62 minutes but for some reason the DVD has a 46 minute version. There are TV versions that I haven't seen either.
David Manners is the lead in the film, you might remember him as Renfrew in the 1931 Dracula. He only has 39 credits on the IMDb but I can't say I've seen more than a handful of his films. He played the husband of the American honeymooners that get caught up in the final meeting between Herr Poelzig and Dr Werdegast in the wonderful 1934 film The Black Cat. Herr Poelzig and Dr Werdegast are played by Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
The Moonstone is a big jewel on a chain. It's worth a lot of smackaroonies and it gets stolen. Most of the action takes place in a big old house. It's kind of an average mystery with some romance, some humor and some melodrama. I gave it a 5. It entertained some and it was short. I might watch it again, I have the DVD, but it's highly possible that it won't happen. That the way it goes, huh.
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