Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935)

I think I've mentioned before how a property like Brewster's Millions has been turned into a movie a fairly ridiculous number of times, especially considering how the original book or play that inspired the movie is not so well known today. Another story that went from book to stage play to movie is Seven Keys to Baldpate, which got three different versions in the first 20 years of the talking picture era, along with a couple of silents although I don't know that any of them are extant. The 1935 version of Seven Keys to Baldpate was about to expire from my DVR, so I watched it and wrote up this post to schedule in the queue for eventual posting here.

I actually didn't know anything about the story going in beyond the fact that it's a mystery, although it's one of those comic mysteries. It's winter in Asquewan Junction, one of those towns that's Hollywood's depiction of what small towns in someplace like upstate New York or New England is like. Of course, this being the first half of the 20th century, small towns like this still had a train station. Coming to that station is William Magee (Gene Raymond), who has come to spend a night or two at the town's resort, the Baldpate hotel. Being winter, the resort is closed for the season, but that's just what Magee wants, as he's in need of solitude to finish up a novel he's writing.

Magee is told there's only one key to the resort, which means he'll have the place to himself. Except, of course that he won't considering the title and how we wouldn't have much of a movie if he did. (Well, I suppose we could have The Shining instead.) Coming into the lobby is a Mr. Bland, who makes a phone call that Magee can hear and talks about the money in the safe. When Magee confronts Bland, it turns out that Bland has a key to the place as well.

Also getting into the place is Mary Norton (Margaret Callahan), a young lady who is in part the love interest and in part more a part of the plot than she lets on. Her presence can also be a problem at times thanks to another person who just happens to have the "only" key to Baldpate, a reclusive handyman type named Peters (Henry Travers). He's the comic relief, and for some reason "hates" women, and is none too pleased at having to cook for Mary as well as Magee.

It's been established that there's supposed money in the safe, so other people show up looking for the money, namely detective Cargan (Moroni Olsen); Mrs. Hayden, who claims to be a blackmail victim regarding some stolen jewels and her husband (Grant Mitchell); a college professor who wants some solitude too; and a few local police and gangster types once the actual crime has been discovered necessitating a police presence. There really is money in the safe, and it gets taken out and moved to various places, leading to the climax and the resolution of the mystery with the requisite happy ending.

To be honest, I haven't seen any of the other versions of Seven Keys to Baldpate and can only comment on this version. It feels a lot like a cheapie B movie that RKO put out to keep a couple of contract players as well as the character actors working. There's nothing special or memorable here and a plot that's too convoluted for a 70 minute running time, but it's also the sort of material that would have kept audiences entertained back in the mid-1930s. In that regard, it's like a version of one of those NBC mystery shows from the 1970s such as Columbo that were designed to run 90 minutes minus commercials and have a bunch of guest stars. Only Seven Keys to Baldpate doesn't have the stars.