THE SECRET WITNESS (1931)
(a.k.a. TERROR BY NIGHT)
Article #309 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 1-18-2002
Posting date: 6-4-2002

A murder is committed in a penthouse apartment, and several suspects are held for questioning.

The horror genre is closely aligned in spirit with the mystery genre, causing a certain amount of slopover between the two. This is one of the most marginal I’ve run into, as its only horror element seems to be a chimp who can shoot a gun, and that doesn’t even play a real part in the solution of the mystery. This one is okay, but it does get a bit tiresome before it is all through, though you do get caught up in whether or not Zasu Pitts will finally be able to go dancing with Elmer. The movie also features Nat Pendleton and Una Merkel, and is also known as TERROR BY NIGHT; don’t confuse it with the Sherlock Holmes movie of the same name.