Mystery Junction

1951

Crime / Mystery / Thriller

1
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 80%
IMDb Rating 5.6/10 10 572 572

train railroad

Director

Michael McCarthy Photo
Michael McCarthy

Top cast

Patricia Owens Photo
Patricia Owens as Mabel Dawn
Martin Benson Photo
Martin Benson as Steve Harding
Philip Dale Photo
Philip Dale as Elliot Foster
Sidney Monckton Photo
Sidney Monckton as Ticket Collector
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
583.78 MB
1280*932
English 2.0
NR
24 fps
1 hr 3 min
Seeds 5
1.06 GB
1482*1080
English 2.0
NR
24 fps
1 hr 3 min
Seeds 17

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by boblipton 6 / 10

A Handsome B Mystery

Mystery writer Sidney Taffler is speaking to Christine Silver as they travel on the train, about how he writes his stories. Suddenly a scream is heard. They investigate and discover one of the crew has been knocked out and his uniform stolen. There's also a detective transporting Martin Benson to his trial. To investigate, most of the passengers are taken to a station. As they wait, a storm rises outside. A shot rings out, and the detective is killed. Half the passengers are members of Benson's gang. They prepare to leave, but Taffer points out that no one admits to killing the detective. The target was Benson. They start to work out who wants him dead.It's a nicely composed classical locked-room mystery, decently acted, and brilliantly shot by DP Robert LaPresle, with carefully composed side-lighting to make the setting dark and oppressive, gradually giving away to brighter lighting as suspects are eliminated -- sometimes by shooting. It's good, sturdy B Movie work, composed for economy on two sets, with competent but inexpensive actors.
Reviewed by crumpytv 7 / 10

Period Piece

Considering this is 70+ years old it is not too bad.Budget confined to limited set scenes, basically on a train then a waiting room, it is a classic British whodunnit with a very worthwhile twist at the end.Plenty of atmosphere, cold and fake snow LOL.
Reviewed by aegoss 6 / 10

The futility of heroism

The scenario in which a group of people find themselves in a closed environment where a murder is then committed by an unseen hand was not new when this short black and white film was made. However, Mystery Junction plays out the tale neatly and efficiently, keeping us guessing all the way, although following exactly who has done what to whom becomes increasingly difficult.The acting is excellent, the cinematography exemplary - there are some quite classical compositions, one in particular towards the end. This is a very British film, the drama comes from tension, not from heroics. Indeed, that heroism is futile is made plain throughout, and even where violence brings results, they will ever play you false.The quality of this film is masked by its low budget, and, on the print I just saw on television, murky resolution. Two of the cast, Sydney Tafler and Ewen Solon, went on to prominent TV careers, and most of the others found plenty of work in television. However, for Pearl Cameron, whose performance was a minor highlight of the film, this was her second, and last credit.While not an outstanding film, Mystery Junction is worth watching if you value tight, understated drama.
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