Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn

Sensational! Eerie! Sinister! Weird! The most unusual picture of the year!

Crime Drama Horror
67 min     5.4     1935     United Kingdom

Overview

In 1820s rural England, a young girl is tricked by tales of marriage from a villainous Squire. When she becomes pregnant and disappears, a gipsy lad is blamed.

Reviews

CinemaSerf wrote:
Based on real events, this isn't really one of Tod Slaughter's more memorable efforts. He is the dastardly squire "Corder" who loses the enormous sum of £6,000 in a game of dice, back in England at the start of the 19th century. So as to avoid bankruptcy, he sets his sights on the rather plain daughter of a nearby wealthy family. Meantime, however, he also has designs on a young girl from the village to whom he promises marriage. When she becomes pregnant, local lad "Carlos" (Eric Portman) is blamed - but he isn't just going to sit there and take the blame, especially now the girl has disappeared, presumed dead! The star is certainly very adept at playing the cad, but Portman reminded me too much of a half-hearted Basil Rathbone and the innocent, ill-fated "Maria" (Sophia Stewart) came across more as a silent movie star, with only limited success delivering her dialogue. It does pack quite a bit of story into seventy minutes but it's all just bit too "Jamaica Inn"-lite for me.

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