When his father was murdered, young Ronald Quayle was convicted of the crime. He escaped and fled from England to the United States. In Oklahoma he becomes rich in the oil fields. An accident on an oil rig results in burns to his face and hands. Plastic surgery alters his face and wipes out his fingerprints. Ronald, knowing that his stepmother, Caroline (Natalie Moorhead), was responsible for the testimony that convicting him, decides to return to England and find proof of his innocence and take revenge on those he knows are responsible. He returns to England using the name Robert Crockett.
While he was away his stepmother and her con artists associates, Sam Lewis (Crauford Kent) and John Utterson (William B. Davidson) managed to squander the family wealth. Now they need to sell the estate to have enough money to continue their lifestyle. Ronald, now Robert, presents himself as a potential buyer of the estate.
When Scotland Yard’s Inspector Tracy (H.B. Warner), learns about the American who is interested in buying the Quayle estate he gets suspicious. Currently a bailiff (Charles K. Gerrard) is doing an inventory of the estate with the assistance of Peggy Lowell (Bette Davis). Tracy sends one of his men, Carr (Murray Kinnell) to snoop around.
Ronald, still posing as Robert Crockett begins wooing his former mother-in-law. His plan is to come between her and her cohorts with the intention of starting a rift between the three partners. His hope is that they will turn on each other and reveal who really killed his father. He gets more than he bargained for.
“The Menace” was released in 1932 and was directed by Roy William Neill. It is an American Pre-Code crime drama. It is based on the 1927 novel “The Feathered Serpent” by Edgar Wallace.
The pre-code aspects to the film would be the gold-digging stepmother responsible for her husband’s death while keeping a lover on the side. Also, the idea of the stepson possibly marrying his stepmother would be another taboo.
This is a very old, very creaky obscure film. You’ll need to be either a mystery freak or a Betty Davis freak to get much out of it. Unfortunately, the only copy available anywhere is a very grainy washed out and shadowy version that looks like it may have at one time been a VHS copy. It is available on YouTube to watch. You can also purchase an on-demand DVD-R from several bootleg on-line sellers, but what you get will be the same movie with the same bad quality as the YouTube version. I suggest you watch the film before deciding if you want to spend any money on acquiring a copy of it.
Otherwise, it is an OK “B” picture, at least from what you can see.