DEATH FROM A DISTANCE is a US murder mystery made in 1935 and featuring a hardboiled cop teaming up with a female reporter. By teaming up I mean that he typically seems to lecture her around in a mildly sexist fashion while she sticks up for herself. The opening murder sequence is the best part of the film as it takes place in a planetarium during a lecture by an astronomer. A gun fires and an audience member lies dead, so the detective has to follow the clues and solve the mystery.
This opening scene is reminiscent of Hitchcock and actually predates a similar moment in his version of THE 39 STEPS. Unfortunately the rest of the film is largely slow-paced and rather bloated with red herrings and the like. It's not the kind of film to engross you, rather the type of film to fall asleep to. The two main stars do their best but DEATH FROM A DISTANCE is a film that's dated more than anything else.
This opening scene is reminiscent of Hitchcock and actually predates a similar moment in his version of THE 39 STEPS. Unfortunately the rest of the film is largely slow-paced and rather bloated with red herrings and the like. It's not the kind of film to engross you, rather the type of film to fall asleep to. The two main stars do their best but DEATH FROM A DISTANCE is a film that's dated more than anything else.