(re)search my Trash

<body> <div align="left"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="800" cellpadding="0" height="100%"> <tr> <td width="100" rowspan="3" background="../stylepix/square.gif" valign="top">  </td> <td width="4" rowspan="3"></td> <td width="592" height="1%" valign="top">  </td> <td width="4" rowspan="3"></td> <td width="100" rowspan="3" background="../stylepix/squareright.gif" valign="top">  </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="592" valign="top" height="99%">   <p>Professor Houghland has made quite an astounding invention of the field of television (then itself a relatively new invention), but when he demonstrates it to the world (via television), he is killed during the transmission, live on air.</p> <p>But who did it ?</p> <p>His assistant Perry (Bela Lugosi) or Richard Grayson (George Meeker), who wants to get his hands on the invention, are the logical suspects, but somehow, brain surgeon Dr Scofield proves them both innocent ... and then Perry is even killed (now that excludes him from the circle of suspects), when all of a sudden ... a second Perry (also Bela Lugosi) enters the scene, who proves to be a cop and claims that the other Perry has taken his place to steal Houghland's secrets.</p> <p>And then he proves Doctor Scofield to be guilty, as the brainsurgeon wanted to turn Houghland's invention into a death ray and sell it to foreign governments. And he killed Doctor Scofield by just that, a death ray triggered by his television signals.</p> <p>Why Scofield was so eager though to prove Perry and Grayson <i>innocent</i> we will never know or understand.</p> <p> </p>  <p>A terribly scripted, acted and directed murder mystery full of plotholes and leaps of reason, littered with way too many red herrings to make any sense at all. Not even Bela Lugosi, in one of his lesser performances, can save the film. Only black actress Hattie McDaniel as housemaid gives the film a little colour (excuse the pun). A scene where she sings a jazz number though has not survived in all prints still in existence, due to the obvious racism of censors from the South of the USA, who would routinely edit out performances by black artists. With or without that segment though, the film is barely watchable.</p> <p> </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="592" valign="top" height="1%">  <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> currentyear = "2006"; </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language="JavaScript" src="../scripts/endcredits.js"></SCRIPT> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> dosworsdonn(); </SCRIPT> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </body>