The 9th Guest (1934)

Who is The 9th Guest?, 30 April 2020

I’m not sure how or why I haven’t seen this one before.  The 9th Guest is an incredibly enjoyable discovery on my part.  As any number of comments online will point out, the movie plays out much like Agatha Christie’s better known And Then There Were None.  Though The 9th Guest isn’t a comedy, I’d be shocked to discover that this film wasn’t at least a partial inspiration behind the wickedly funny Murder by Death and/or Clue. 

In the film, eight guests have been invited to a mysterious party where they are promised a memorable evening.  Each guest has a closet full of skeletons and most are quite vocal in their feelings toward the other members of the party.  We later learn that the titular 9th guest is “Death”.  The party’s host makes his presence known via a radio in the main room.  He promises that throughout the night, one-by-one, each member of the party will be killed.  With no means of escape, who will survive the night?

The acting in The 9th Guest is first rate.  I’m not sure I was overly familiar with most of the cast, but all are outstanding.  The writing is also worth noting.  The dialogue is especially sharp.  But I think the biggest kudos for the success of The 9th Guest have to go to director Roy William Neill (oddly credited as R. William Neill).  It takes a masterful hand to wring this much atmosphere out of a film.  Add to that the fact Neill does this without the usual gothic trappings I generally consider necessary to an atmospheric film.  Instead of an old, dark Victorian mansion or some ancient, crumbling gothic abbey, The 9th Guest features a thoroughly modern (for its time) art deco penthouse setting I wouldn’t normally associate with a film like this.  The movie is only let down by how ridiculous some of the characters act when faced with death.  Had they just kept a level head, more might have survived.  But how fun would that have been?

8/10