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The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Esther Dale's "Longacre Lil" may look like the sweet Apple Annie, but her grizzled appearance is where those similarities end. When playwright Edmund Lowe refuses to honor Lil with a gift, murders start to occur all around him, all from the same way the murder in his Broadway hit occurred: murder by snake bite. Lowe has a lot of explaining to do, but so does Dale who continues to stalk Lowe and is around every time a murder is discovered.The mixture of mystery and theater, set in the theater capitol of the world, is an interesting setup and has the mark of another Columbia mystery series that never got off the ground. Lowe, emulating the recently deceased John Barrymore, is part ham actor, part Perry Mason, and clever enough to make this B movie intriguing. Marguerite Chapman is the lovely stage co-star frustrated by the offstage intrigue. Dale hams it up as if she knew it was her last bow and that Easter would be her own closing night, chowing down on the ham as quickly as it could be unwrapped.

This was considered a "B" picture when Columbia pictures released it in 1943 so it lacked the usual promotion. Edmond Lowe is at his best in this role as an actor turned detective. Although another critic on this web page made the comment that the murder weapon is not shown, it is clearly shown by the murderer when he prepares the snake poison for another victim and is very similar to the murder weapon utilized in "The Falcon Out West". I first saw this movie while growing up in San Diego on television and consider it to be as good as the "Thin Man" movies, etc. Rated "G" for all ages. The plot is that Edmond Lowe is a struggling stage actor/writer in New York City and finally hits it big on Broadway with a play he wrote. His good luck turns bad when he refuses to join a club ran by an old lady. Imediately after wards he becomes a prime suspect for the murders of snake bite victims because the plot of his play is very similar. He must become a detective in order to clear himself and the film does a great job of placing Edmond Lowe at his best acting role. The only regret is that he did not continue making similar movies in the golden years of the 1940's.

An egotistical playwrite (Edmund Lowe) write a play wherein snakes play a vital part. He becomes infamous (and wanted by the police) when several of his close friends die of "snake bite".This is an interesting, intriquing story, but MUCH is left unanswered; for example, the weapon that simulates "snake bite" is never shown OR explained and the murderer was nowhere NEAR his first victim!Forget the "logic" and just enjoy this film!