Mystery Liner: Fog, Frights, and a Bit of Fika

Alright, so I gave this oldie, Mystery Liner (1934), a shot late last Tuesday… and wow, what a ride. Not “rollercoaster at Liseberg” levels of excitement, but more like trying to find your way home from Gamla Stan in winter fog after maybe one too many cups of glögg. You get it.

The big names here? Noah Beery (I still remember confusing him with Wallander’s uncle the first time), and Gustav von Seyffertitz – what a name, by the way. The director was William Nigh, who seemed to make more films than I have socks. Producer was Monogram Pictures, who, let’s be honest, always made B-movies feel like C+ cinema, but with heart.

The film is a kind of sci-fi crime mix, set on this liner out at sea. Someone is messing with a snazzy new navigation system (they call it radio control, pretty far out for 1934). There’s some old school suspense and creaky dialogue, sure, but that adds to the charm, like badly dubbed Beck episodes on VHS.

It’s kinda weird – the sound in my living room turned totally “knäpp” when the radio sounds came on, made my cat Måns hop up like he’d seen a ghost. Gave me a weird flashback to being trapped on the ferry to Finland during a power cut in ’92, everyone guessing who on board might be a secret spy. That’s the vibe here, actually. Everyone’s a suspect, nobody’s telling the truth, and someone definitely stole the last kanelbulle.

Is it brilliant? Nah. Fun? Totally, if you enjoy that “rainy Sunday on SVT 1” feeling. Maybe watch with a gang, talk about who you’d throw out the airlock first. Or just soak up some wonderfully rubbish effects and imagine the smell of old film reels. That’s cinema, Swedish style.

watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube

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