Cinema: The House of a Thousand Candles

(Republic) has nothing, except its title, in common with Meredith Nicholson's 1905 best seller. It is a spy melodrama of the old school, concerning code letters, the Simplon Express, diplomats in Geneva and a beautiful dancer (Rosita Moreno) who gives her admirers knockout drops. The courier (Phillips Holmes) whose job is to deliver a message on which the peace of Europe depends, succeeds in doing so, aided by a young female tourist (Mae Clarke) and not too seriously hampered by the head of the spy ring (Irving Pichel).

As a milestone in cinema...

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