Adapted from a school play by crime writer Hannah, this low-budget British whodunnit lacks the cinematic flair to match its clever songs and plotting
This low-budget British whodunnit arrives well-timed amid a Rian Johnson-prompted boom in murder mystery movies. It’s not quite, as it claims, the first murder mystery musical movie: that honour might well go to François Ozon’s 8 Women, and Stephen Sondheim once wrote a screenplay and songs for the unproduced The Chorus Girl Murder Case. The concept has been in the ether for a while – unsurprisingly perhaps, as musicals and whodunnits are both formalised genres with a certain amount of common ground.
The Mystery of Mr E enjoys wrongfooting us. Similarly to the start of the classic 1950 noir Doa, when the protagonist arrives to announce his own murder, dastardly Mr E (Kevin Dixon) turns up at the residence of twins George (James N Knight...
This low-budget British whodunnit arrives well-timed amid a Rian Johnson-prompted boom in murder mystery movies. It’s not quite, as it claims, the first murder mystery musical movie: that honour might well go to François Ozon’s 8 Women, and Stephen Sondheim once wrote a screenplay and songs for the unproduced The Chorus Girl Murder Case. The concept has been in the ether for a while – unsurprisingly perhaps, as musicals and whodunnits are both formalised genres with a certain amount of common ground.
The Mystery of Mr E enjoys wrongfooting us. Similarly to the start of the classic 1950 noir Doa, when the protagonist arrives to announce his own murder, dastardly Mr E (Kevin Dixon) turns up at the residence of twins George (James N Knight...
- 11/21/2023
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
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