Just about as far on the opposite side of the spectrum from Martyrs as possible is The Rogue's Tavern. It's another 1930s "group of people in a house on a stormy night being murdered one by one" mystery from the 50 Tales of Terror budget set. And despite it's somewhat gloomy premise, it's still more of a comedy that anything else. There are some pretty serious flaws (mostly a *lot* of dead air), but it's pretty short and the comedy mostly works.
Wallace Ford (the annoying magician from One Frightened Night) stars as Jimmy Kelly, a detective desperate to get married to his (also detective) girlfriend Marjorie Burns (Barbara Pepper). Why they are in such a hurry is never made clear. A clerk at the first place they try tells them they have to leave the state to do it fast, but he can get a justice of the peace to meet them at a hotel/tavern just across the border. Meanwhile, a group of shady folks ("rogues," you might say) are meeting at the same hotel. They have all been called there by anonymous telegrams, but why? It's clear they have some shady background together, but just what is a mystery. When the rogues start to be killed one by one, it's up to Jimmy and Marjorie to get to the bottom of the mystery before it's too late!
So The Rogue's Tavern has a pretty simple story, but it's an entertaining enough diversion. Jimmy (Ford) and Marjorie (Burns) do most of the heavy lifting keeping things light and entertaining. They've got some good back and forth bickering - it seems to be a strong suite of a lot of the films of this era (and it's no surprise that Ford got a start in vaudeville - that timing and style of delivery is pretty obvious here). But given the time frame, Jimmy just kind of gets to be a dick to his fiancee and all she can do is just smile and shake her head. A typical exchange: Jimmy "There's something I'm going to teach you after we get married" Marjorie: "What's that?" Jimmy: "To keep quiet!" It's kind of funny but a little bit sad too.
There are some charmingly bad line reading from the supporting cast though. You get some of the most wooden deliveries I've ever heard - where just yelling a word or two seems to be the most natural way they can do it. Mostly they are from older people - I like to imagine that they were still trying to figure out how to read lines in the 'talkies' and sound natural. But honestly, in this context it's still good for a laugh or two.
There are also a couple of other kind of interesting archaisms in The Rogue's Tavern - first off, the sleeping arrangements are kind of funny. They are in a hotel and Jimmy and Marjorie can simply not sleep in the same room - they aren't even married! But they don't have any extra rooms in the hotel... so some of the other guests are kind enough to offer up a spot in their beds. So, in the 30s it was apparently NOT okay to sleep with your fiancee, but perfectly acceptable to sleep with a same-sex total stranger. Very interesting. One other not so funny old-timey aspect of the film is that there is a tremendous amount of dead air. No soundtrack, no dialogue - just someone sneaking around the house quietly. It's pretty surprising how quickly that can get boring.
Or maybe the dastardly budget set transfer is to blame? The film looks and sounds okay, but there are segments where there is clearly supposed to be dialogue and you hear nothing. So I think the audio source is a bit messed up. Still, I think some of the long stretches of time with no sound are just part of the film. So don't watch it late at night - these parts are very easy to fall asleep to.
But, on the plus side? There's a dog! And he's got a pretty significant role.
Name: n/a
Breed: I'd say German Shepard, although according to the innkeeper he's PART WOLF!
Function: For much of the film, people think he's the killer! It's pretty awesome - early on when the first person is killed, the dog is hanging out in the in the room with the body and then just jumps out of the window. But the victims all have teeth marks on their necks (it turns out the killer is using a stupid wolf hand puppet to kill people - not very efficient, but whatever). Ultimately he turns out to be a good doggie when Jimmy tracks him down. But he's also kind of a peeper, as you can see from the picture.
Fate: Nothing happens to him. At the beginning, a guy tries to shoot him, but misses. Once Jimmy figures out that the dog isn't to blame, he just kind of disappears. Hopefully to keep on peeping into people's windows.
Overall, The Rogue's Tavern is nothing special. It's pretty harmless and goes down easy. It's a bit on the corny side and is never really scary, but there is at least an attempt at horror (complete with an over-the-top maniacal speech from the villain in the finale). Which is more than I can say for other films from this era on the 50 Tales of Terror budget set. If "inoffensive 30s comedy" is your thing:
I would recommend this film.
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