Mystery

Intriguing tales of secrets, clues, and hidden truths. These films invite viewers to piece together puzzles, uncover motives, and solve crimes alongside determined investigators or unsuspecting protagonists.

Midnight Killer / Morirai a mezzanotte (1986) Lamberto Bava, Valeria D’Obici, Leonardo Treviglio, Paolo Malco, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

midnight-killer-1986
Nicola confronts his beautiful wife about the affair she’s been having. But someone brutally murders her in the shower, right after he leaves the house. Naturally Nicola is made prime suspect. But his colleague, Anna, sees signs that the murder may have been committed by the so-called “Midnight Ripper”. The only problem is that the Midnight Ripper has been dead for several years…
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The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) Richard Thorpe, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson, Comedy, Crime, Mystery

the-thin-man-goes-home-1945
Nick and Nora head to Nick’s hometown of Sycamore Springs to spend some time with his parents. His father, a prominent local physician, was always a bit disappointed with Nick’s choice of profession in particular and his lifestyle in general. With Nick’s arrival however the towns folk, including several of the local criminal element, are convinced that he must be there on a case despite his protestations that he’s just there for rest and relaxation. When someone is shot dead on his doorstep however, Nick finds himself working on a case whether he wants to or not.
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Bodas de sangre / Blood Wedding (1981) Carlos Saura, Antonio Gades, Cristina Hoyos, Juan Antonio Jiménez, Mystery, Musical

bodas-de-sangre-aka-blood-wedding-1981
In a sense, Carlos Saura’s first foray into filming classical dance, Blood Wedding, may be seen, not as a stark departure from the immediacy of his narrative films, but rather, as an oblique return to form towards the social interrogations implicit in his earlier work on the fundamental question of Spanish identity – a particularly timely and relevant re-assessment in the aftermath of a contemporary history marked by institutional repression, creative censorship, and historical revisionism. It is within this framework that the selected adaptation of the seminal “rural trilogy” play by Spanish playwright, Federico García Lorca – a writer who was executed by Falangists in the early days of the Civil War and whose work was generally banned throughout Franco’s regime – seems particularly suited to this post Franco-era cultural introspection in its dark and tragic tale of passion, betrayal, and revenge.
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The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946) Lothar Mendes, Lee Bowman, Marguerite Chapman, Edgar Buchanan, Action, Adventure, Crime, Mystery, Romance

The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946)
The Columbia mystery melodrama The Walls Came Tumbling Down is regarded in many circles as star Lee Bowman’s finest hour-and-a-half. Bowman is cast as Winchellesque Broadway columnist Gilbert Archer, who insists upon investigating the death of an old friend, a priest. The police insist that the priest hanged himself, but Archer believes otherwise, and together with Boston socialite Patricia Foster (Marguerite Chapman) he begins to play detective – though “play” is hardly the word. Key ingredients to the mystery are two rare Bibles and a painting of the fall of Jericho. The principal villainy comes at the grubby hands of Columbia contractees George Macready and Edgar Buchanan, while J. Edward Bromberg has a few amusing moments as a kooky art dealer.
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In a Lonely Place (1950) Nicholas Ray, Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Film-Noir, Mystery, Drama

In a Lonely Place (1950)
When a gifted but washed-up screenwriter with a hair-trigger temper – Humphrey Bogart, in a revelatory, vulnerable performance – becomes the prime suspect in a brutal Tinseltown murder, the only person who can supply an alibi for him is a seductive neighbor (Gloria Grahame) with her own troubled past. The emotionally charged In a Lonely Place, freely adapted from a Dorothy B. Hughes thriller, is a brilliant, turbulent mix of suspenseful noir and devastating melodrama, fueled by powerhouse performances. An uncompromising tale of two people desperate to love yet struggling with their demons and each other, this is one of the greatest films of the 1950s, and a benchmark in the career of the classic Hollywood auteur Nicholas Ray.
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The Whistler (1944) William Castle, Richard Dix, Gloria Stuart, J. Carrol Naish, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller

The Whistler (1944)
A man, despondent over the death of his wife, wants to commit suicide but can’t bring himself to do it. He hires a man to hire a professional killer to do the job. However, he soon finds out that his wife isn’t really dead – but the man he paid to hire the hitman is, and he has no idea who the man hired or how to get him to call off the hit.
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