"Le Mystère De La Chambre Jaune" by Gaston Leroux, (better known as the creator of “Phantom Of The Opera”) is one of the first "locked room" mysteries. The emphasis of the story is firmly on the intellectual challenge to the reader, who will almost certainly be hard pressed to unravel every detail of the situation. Set in France, the story tells the tale of the daughter of a famous scientist who is found the victim of attempted murder. Her room is locked from the inside and there are no other ways in. The police are called in, but it is up to the young journalist, Joseph Rouletabille, to unravel the story by the use of logic and some very intense detective work. In a poll of mystery writers and reviewers, this novel was voted as the third best locked room mystery of all time. DVD Extras: Three French Theatre Ads - “Parade De Sools”, “Gitane” and “Lion Noir”. Clever advertisements for hats, cigarettes and foot powder as seen in the movie theatres of the day At 3:25 (1923) - René Clair’s fascinating tale of a mysterious morning when the night watchman at the top of the Eiffel Tower discovers that the world is frozen in time and people are found everywhere locked in the positions they were in at 3:25 AM.
M**N
Dreadful print quality
The print of this 1935 is very poor and has clearly not been re-mastered, it shows every year of its age. Sadly, it appears to be the only edition currently available with English sub-titles.
A**Y
Hilarious
This movie is based on a novel by Phantom of the Opera author Gaston Leroux, titled in English The Mystery of the Yellow Room. Both Leroux and the filmmaker created a sequel that is really the conclusion to the earlier book/movie, the sequel being titled The Perfume of the Lady in Black/Le Parfum de la dame en noir. To really appreciate this movie you need to buy both books, read them in order, then buy both movies, and view them in order. The books are available in English or French, whichever you prefer, and both French movies have English subtitles available.This may seem like work, but trust me, it's entertainment. Leroux's mysteries have a brooding, Gothic atmosphere that, especially in the second book, descends into outright paranoia. The number of false identities and coincidences, the complicated plot twists, the characters' overheated emotions and illogical reactions, require considerable suspension of disbelief. With the books you can get by with saying, "Well, it's a Gothic, what do you expect." But, it would be very, very hard to create movies from these books that viewers would take seriously.Wisely, the filmmakers chose to satirize the books instead. The result is side splitting. The absurdities are kept, but shown for what they are (one reason to read the books first is to help yourself keep the plot straight). New comic touches are added. For example, the eccentric scientist of the books is now responsible for inventing the solar-powered automobile (the time has been shifted to the 1920s), and the solar-powered submarine (both have to be continuously exposed to sunlight to operate). Then there's a wedding ceremony where the priest expounds on how most marriages fail anyway. And lots more!
Trustpilot
1 month ago
2 days ago
