I Am a Thief (1934)

Directed by Robert Florey. Starring Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortez, Irving Pichel, Dudley Digges, Robert Barrat, Hobart Cavanaugh, Ferdinand Gottschalk, John Wray.

Valuable diamonds, an infamous jewel thief, and assorted suspicious figures involved in murder and larceny during a ride on the Orient Express; where’s Hercule Poirot when you need him? Mild mystery/thriller is modestly satisfying, though immemorable; Astor and Cortez, as competing bidders for the targeted jewels, don’t exactly ignite the screen with the passion of their romance. The late twists/revelations are pretty tame (for a movie that’s only a shade over an hour long, there are quite a few complications and red herrings), and the resolution in the denouement is rather laughable, but those with a fondness for these sorts of mannered, Agatha Christie-like mystery programmers might enjoy it. Digges does a blustery caricature that would make Yosemite Sam proud.

57/100