''The Last Express'' is a 1938 American

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by

Otis Garrett Otis Garrett (1905–1941) was an American film editor, screenwriter and film director.Shelley p.150 Filmography Director * ''The Last Express'' (1938) * '' Danger on the Air'' (1938) * '' The Black Doll'' (1938) * ''Personal Secretary'' (1938) ...

and written by

Edmund Hartmann Edmund L. Hartmann (September 24, 1911 – November 28, 2003) was a film and television writer and producer from the 1930s to the 1970s. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Washington University in St. Louis. He later married and ...

. It is based on the 1937 novel ''The Last Express'' by

Baynard Kendrick Baynard Hardwick Kendrick (April 8, 1894 – March 22, 1977) was an American mystery novelist. He wrote whodunit novels about Duncan Maclain, a blind private investigator who worked with his two German shepherds and his household of assistants t ...

. The film stars

Kent Taylor Kent Taylor (born Louis William Weiss; May 11, 1907 – April 11, 1987) was an American actor of film and television. Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more p ...

Dorothea Kent Dorothea Kent (born Dorothea Jane Schaeffer; June 6, 1916 – December 10, 1990) was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1935 and 1948. A former model, she often played dumb sidekicks of the heroine, and rarely ...

Don Brodie Don L. Brodie (May 29, 1904 – January 8, 2001) was an American film and television actor. Early years The son of Mrs. Lottie Brodie, he attended Hughes High School in Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati. Before becoming a profess ...

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, ba ...

Addison Richards Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than three hundred films between 1933 and his death. Biography A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richa ...

Greta Granstedt Greta Granstedt (born Irene Louise Granstedt; July 13, 1907 – October 7, 1987) was an American film and television actress. Early life Irene "Greta" Granstedt was the second child of Theodore and Emma Granstedt, born in Scandia, Kansas. ...

Robert Emmett Keane Robert Emmett Keane (March 4, 1883 – July 2, 1981) was an American actor of both the stage and screen. Biography Keane began on stage in the 1910s, his first Broadway appearance being in the production of '' The Passing Show of 1914''. He co ...

and

J. Farrell MacDonald John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed fort ...

. The film was released on October 28, 1938, by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Plot

Cast

Production

In 1937,

made a deal with

the Crime Club ''The Crime Club'' was an imprint of the Doubleday publishing company, which later spawned a 1946-47 anthology radio series, and a 1937-1939 film series. Literature Many classic and popular works of detective and mystery fiction had their fir ...

, who were publishers of

whodunnits A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the ...

. Over the next few years Universal released several mystery films in the series. ''The Last Express'' was one of the entries in the series.

Release

''The Last Express'' opened in New York in the week of October 12, 1938. It was released further on October 28, 1938.

Reception

Archer Winsten of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' found the film to be "unusually baffling".

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Express 1938 films 1938 mystery films American black-and-white films American mystery films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Otis Garrett 1930s English-language films 1930s American films