Guilty as Hell + Night Club Scandal DVD-R

Get the original film, Guilty as Hell (1932), and the remake, Night Club Scandal (1937), for 20% off their individual prices!

GUILTY AS HELL

Starring Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen, Richard Arlen, Adrienne Ames, Henry Stephenson
Directed by Erle C. Kenton

Print: black/white
Runtime: 80 min.
Genre: mystery
Print quality: B

Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe carry their pugnacious Quirt-and-Flagg relationship into
the murder mystery genre in Paramount's Guilty as Hell. Actually, there's very little mystery
involved, since the audience is informed at the outset that dignified Dr. Tindall (Henry
Stephenson) is responsible for the death of his faithless wife (Claire Dodd). Carefully
arranging the evidence, Tindall manages to convince the authorities that Mrs. Tindall's lover
Frank Marsh (Richard Arlen) is the criminal. Detective McKinley (McLaglen) is ready to
declare the case closed, but reporter Russell Kirk (Lowe), who's sweet on Marsh's sister
Vera (Adrienne Ames), suspects there's more to the story than meets the eye. Likewise
falling for Vera, McKinley grudgingly joins his friendly enemy Kirk in proving Frank's
innocence and Tindall's guilt. Released in England as Guilty as Charged, this lightweight
thriller was remade, with its delightful surprise ending intact, as Night Club Scandal (1937),
with John Barrymore hamming his way through the Henry Stephenson part.

NIGHT CLUB SCANDAL

Starring John Barrymore, Lynne Overman, Louise Campbell, Charles
Bickford, Harvey Stephens, J. Carrol Naish, Elizabeth Patterson
Directed by Ralph Murphy

Print: black/white
Runtime: 70 min.
Genre: drama
Print quality: B

A remake of 1932's Guilty as Hell, Night Club Scandal also borrows a page
from 1934's Murder at the Vanities by depicting the "friendly adversary"
relationship between a reporter (Lynne Overman) and a cop (Charles
Bickford). Top-billed John Barrymore plays a respectable doctor married
to a nightclub singer (Evelyn Brent), who murders his wife and frames the
victim's lover for the crime. Overman and Bickford spot holes in
Barrymore's story, bringing him to justice by Reel Seven. The murder plot
is standard stuff, but the main attraction of Night Club Scandal is the
aggressively masculine love/hate byplay between tipsy Lynne Overman
and flint-eyed Charles Bickford. The best moment occurs at the end,
when the wide-eyed ingenue (Louise Campbell) doesn't marry the fellow
the audience expects her to!