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Overrated and overhyped

hyped garbage

Best movie of this year hands down!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

"Murder In The Private Car" tries to combine three different genres: mystery, comedy, and action. It succeeds only at one - action. The last 10 minutes are a pretty spectacular ride on a runaway train car. On the other hand, the mystery never really builds any interest, and the comedy never really brings any laughs. Charlie Ruggles tries hard, but his lines are simply not funny. Una Merkel is a sheer joy to watch, but she is also sabotaged by the script. Even an escaped gorilla drops in, all for naught. And the less said about the humiliating role of the black comic relief guy, the better. On the whole, a weak film whose only part really worth seeing are the last 10 minutes. ** out of 4.

In the 1930s-40s, Hollywood made approximately 3045203540 B-detective films (give or take 1 or 2). And, as I have apparently seen most of them, they all start to blend together after a while. Because of this I was actually pretty relieved to see that this one is different--not necessarily that great but at least different.The film itself is about two ladies who are on a train to go see one of the women's father--who she has never met. Apparently she's a long-lost heiress and doesn't know it. Unfortunately, she is also unknowingly being used as bait to get to the millionaire--as some crazy person wants to kill him. And, being crazy AND histrionic, he's come up with a very complicated and strange way to exact revenge.The first really odd thing is the detective. Charlie Ruggles is about as unlike the typical detective as you find--small, a bit git goofy, and possibly a bit crazy. So, when he DOES act, it comes as a surprise--especially when he becomes a bit of an action hero! Second, although it's pretty obvious they were using a lot of camera tricks, the end of the film is unusually action-packed for a mystery. Third, the plot is a lot like what you might find in an over the top movie serial--especially with such gimmicks as the sliding steel plates and voice of doom when the killer confronts the millionaire--it's goofy but highly entertaining In fact, it's easy to admit that the film is pretty silly but somehow different enough to keep your interest.By the way, talk about dehumanizing! Fred Toones (a black actor) is simply listed here as 'Snowflake' in the credits--as he was often credited in films. This appellation is a sad commentary on the times in which the film was made.

The years haven't been kind to this sort of material, a fragile murder mystery dependent on flat one-liners from leading man CHARLES RUGGLES and a script that ends with a Keystone Cops sort of train chase that only manages to liven up the proceedings for the final fifteen minutes.The runaway car sequence is full of process shots that only add to the tangled mess of a plot involving a bit of murder and mayhem. UNA MERKEL gives her standard flighty interpretation of a dull role, as does MARY CARLISLE. The broadest comedy relief comes from the train porter, played by a black man billed as "Snowflake." Today's viewers would find his interpretation of a comically frightened coward as offensive as can be.Getting to that train chase ending is almost unbearable. Charles Ruggles has a thankless role and is unable to deliver a single believable line. His detective character is not only annoying but obnoxious--not the actor's fault but the poor script gives him no opportunity to be anything but foolish and boorish in behavior.Only those who love to wallow in '30s-style comedies, whether good, bad or indifferent, will be able to tolerate this one.My advice is to let it pass. Mercifully, it's a short feature film.

An amateur crime ‘deflector' finds his skills put to the test aboard a transcontinental train when there's MURDER IN THE PRIVATE CAR.All of the much-loved elements of the Old Dark House spook films can be found in this regrettably obscure little thriller -- damsels in distress, mysterious legacies, strange disappearances, hairy clutching hands, sudden death, terrible menace (and, for a few delicious moments, a rampaging gorilla)-- except here it all takes place in the fancy carriage car of a swiftly moving train. The plot moves just as quickly, catapulting the viewer along, with the climax especially fast & furious.The delightfully quixotic humor of comic actor Charles Ruggles is highlighted as his offbeat character relentlessly pursues the solution of the mystery. His bemused encounter with the denizens of a smashed circus train--camel, kangaroo and MGM's Leo the Lion--is especially funny. The teaming of Ruggles with pert & perky Una Merkel is inspired. Her sarcastic wisecracks, uttered in that wonderful Southern drawl, are the perfect counterpoint to Ruggles' wry utterances.The rest of the cast offers good support: Mary Carlisle as a terribly endangered rich girl; Russell Hardie as her stalwart boyfriend; Berton Churchill as a slightly stuffy millionaire who's about to face enormous peril; Porter Hall as a protective lawyer; and Fred ‘Snowflake' Toones as a terrified train porter.Movie mavens will recognize Sterling Holloway as a gossipy office boy and Walter Brennan as a train yard switchman, both uncredited.