1935's "Mystery of Edwin Drood" was Universal's followup to their equally lavish Dickens adaptation "Great Expectations," on par with later efforts such as "Tower of London" and "The House of the Seven Gables." The unfinished 1870 story certainly begged for a proper solution, baffling bibliophiles over the decades, but this film's weakest flaw is that its depiction is fatally predictable. We are shown right away the drug-addled choirmaster John Jasper (Claude Rains),whose frequent illnesses are a mask for his addiction to opium (a welcome touch seemingly missed by the Hays code). Jasper's secret desire for his lovely young ward Rosa Bud (Heather Angel) is clearly no surprise to her, his piercing gaze sending her into paroxysms of fear, and since she has been betrothed since childhood to Jasper's beloved nephew Edwin Drood (David Manners),evil thoughts begin to grow in the older man's mind. Enter Neville Landless (Douglass Montgomery) and his beautiful sister Helena (Valerie Hobson),recent arrivals from Ceylon, allowing Jasper to foment an acrimonious rivalry over Rosa between the hot tempered Neville (who has quickly fallen for her) and her intended groom. There are precious few surprises in the script as written, so it's up to the excellent cast to carry the day. With so many Dickensian characters surrounding him, Claude Rains actually winds up in a subordinate role, while Douglass Montgomery, typecast in romantic parts, relishes the opportunity for some real scenery chewing in disguise (he enjoyed another in 1939's "The Cat and the Canary."). Heather Angel had two future genre titles ahead, 1942's "The Undying Monster" and 1962's "Premature Burial," while 17 year old Valerie Hobson was apparently Universal's busiest starlet of 1935, immediately rejoining director Stuart Walker on "WereWolf of London" (along with Zeffie Tilbury, Ethel Griffies, Vera Buckland, and J. M. Kerrigan). David Manners bid farewell to Universal here, completing just five more low budget features before quitting Hollywood by 1937. Look fast for unbilled bits from Will Geer, lighting lamps 44 minutes in, and Walter Brennan, gossiping about Neville Landless at the 30 minute mark. Despite its inclusion in Universal's popular SHOCK! television package of the late 50s, "Mystery of Edwin Drood" never once made the rounds on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, a fate that also befell 1935's "The Great Impersonation," 1938's "The Last Warning," 1939's "The Witness Vanishes," and 1942's "Mystery of Marie Roget."

During the thirties film studios in Hollywood were going "classics crazy". Even poverty row studios such as Monogram were having a go as they plundered literary classics and bought out their own versions of "The Moonstone" (1934),"Jane Eyre" (1934)(beautiful Virginia Bruce was Jane Eyre) and "Oliver Twist" (1933) with Dickie Moore in the title role. It was only fitting that Universal, home of the horror movie, should tackle "Mystery of Edwin Drood" (although at the time they could not afford such a costly production) and with a plot involving murder, violence and drug addiction it was one of Charles Dickens darkest novels. It was unfinished at the time of Dickens' death - he had only finished 6 chapters of a 12 chapter serialization and no attempt was made to finish it.

It was an ideal story for Universal's latest sensation - an actor who was to excel in some splendidly malevolent roles - Claude Rains. Respected choir master John Jasper (Claude Rains) has a secret - he is an opium addict and his warped dreams are all about Rosa Budd (Heather Angel). She has been engaged to Edwin Drood "Ned" (David Manners) since they were children and both of them are of the opinion that even though they feel only friendship toward each other, they may as well marry. The thought of their marriage is driving Jasper insane.

Helena (Valerie Hobson) and Neville Landless (Douglass Montgomery),brother and sister, are surprise visitors to the village. They have come to England from Ceylon to study at Mr. Crisparkles but they have come out under a cloud. Neville has a violent temper and the reason they were sent to England is that Neville took a knife to his stepfather - after his sister was severely beaten by him. That night, at a welcoming dinner, Rosa faints - there is something about Jasper that repels her. Later, that same night, when Neville feels that Edwin is not speaking of Rosa with respect, his temper gets the better of him and he draws a knife. Jasper, who swears to keep the incident a secret, sees a way of making trouble and spreads the story throughout the village, giving Neville a reputation as hot tempered. Rosa and "Ned" have now called off their engagement but when they seal their friendship with a kiss Jasper sees them and jealously plots his revenge. "Ned" goes missing on the night of a fierce storm and Neville is bought in - he has just started a walking tour.

This is just a terrific film and the ending concocted by scenarists John Balderston and Grace Unger met with universal approval from Dickens' fans, who thought it remained faithful to the novel's original intentions. Even though many of the colourful characters were left out due to the film's shorter running time, Francis L. Sullivan is a standout as Mr. Crisparkle. Although it is clear Jasper murdered Edwin, finding out how he did it, how the body was disposed and how he was found out will have you on the edge of your seat.

If there was ever an actress who was born to play Victorian heroines, it was Heather Angel - she was absolutely gorgeous as Rosa Budd (even she makes a joke about the name in the film). I don't think Claude Rains was outshone by anyone in this film, I thought he was simply fantastic but he was definitely given a run for his money by Douglass Montgomery, who showed what he could do when given a role he could sink his teeth into. David Manners, who had never worn the mantle of movie star comfortably, was almost at the end of his career. Zeffie Tilbury gave a subdued performance as "the Opium Woman" - I was very surprised, considering the only time I have ever seen her - she was mugging for all she was worth in the ghastly "Mystery Liner" (1934).

Highly Recommended.

This adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous unfinished novel is made in the style of Universal's horror films: in fact, it not only features many of their participants (from both sides of the camera) but actually shares several sets with BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) –making the film all that more enjoyable and fascinating a viewing! The stunning opening sequence, depicting an opium-induced hallucination, is followed by the shocking discovery of the addict involved (Claude Rains) to be the choirmaster of the local church! Jealously in love with a girl (Heather Angel) about to marry his nephew (David Manners in the title role),he schemes to get the boy out of the way – unaware that the couple had mutually given each other up when she falls for hot-tempered newcomer Douglass Montgomery; the latter's own shaky relationship with Drood leads to his being suspected of foul play when Manners goes missing – a situation Rains encourages for obvious reasons. Montgomery, however, does not rest on his laurels – indeed, he makes himself up as an old man in order to conduct his own private investigation! The exciting climax – set inside the crypt so memorably utilized in the James Whale masterpiece I mentioned earlier – sees the villain engaged in a scuffle with the hero, eventually getting his just desserts in melodramatic fashion. The film, then, serves as an interesting companion piece to contemporaneous Dickensian adaptations (a star-studded David COPPERFIELD emerged from MGM that same year) and should also pique the interest of horror buffs for the reasons I delineated at the start