Three men, all strangers to each other, are traveling on a train to the tiny Italian town of Rossano. The men are Juan Cesare (Donald Woods), Dr. Lytton (C. Aubrey Smith) and Victor Ballau (Henry O’Neill). Three visitors coming to this remote location attracts attention from the locals. All three men rent rooms at the local inn. Ballau is a play producer from Vienna looking for seclusion so he can read some plays. Dr. Lytton is looking for some rest and relaxation. Juan is in town for different reasons.
On a hill near the town is an ancient castle that belonged to the Borgia family. The Borgias are known for murdering people. Juan is the last descendant of the Borgias and wants to visit the castle. The hotel owner (Charles Judels) has the key to the castle, so he gives Juan, and the others, a tour of the crumbling building and regales them with tales of murder. Juan believes that he has inherited the murderous impulses of his ancestors and that it is only a matter of time before he kills someone. Juan plans on killing himself before he can give in to his feelings.
Dr. Lytton becomes fascinated with Juan’s emotional state and decides to help him using various tools, such as hypnosis and psychoanalysis. Lytton believes that Juan’s impulses are in his head and not in his blood. He tells Juan that he should write a play about the Borgias to get these feelings out of his system. Ballau is fascinated with the Borgias and wants to produce the play.
Everyone returns to Vienna to work on the play. Needing a leading lady to play the part of Lucrezia, Ballau sends for his daughter, Florence (Margaret Lindsay). Florence and Ballau have a rocky history and several family skeletons. Florence has no choice but to play the evil Lucrezia. The play is a hit, and Juan lets go of his feelings of murder. Juan and Florence fall in love, but Ballau refuses to allow them to marry.
Shortly after that Ballau is murdered by being stabbed with a dagger that once belonged to the Borgias. Juan begins to believe that he may have killed Ballau, but Ballau family secrets begin spilling out of the skeleton closet. The police begin looking at Florence as the murderer since she has a motive stemming from her past.
“The Florentine Dagger” was released in 1935 and was directed by Robert Florey. It is an American murder mystery. The film was based on the 1923 novel by Ben Hecht.
The movie is the third film in the “Clue Club” series. The “Clue Club” was a series of twelve films in the thirties created by Warner Brothers in conjunction with Black Mask Magazine. The purpose of the partnership was to increase audience attendance for Warner Brothers and readership for Black Mask.
This is a strange little movie, but it has some really neat atmosphere and a rather unusual storyline. The plot changes part way through and lots of little mysteries and characters pop up, but not in a bad way. Usually, extra plot threads and characters cause confusing but here it somehow seems to flow from one creepy main point to another creepier main point.
The acting is a little sporadic but Robert Barrat as Police Inspector Von Brinkner steals the movie.