With his beautiful diction and suave manner Lionel Atwill could always be counted on to give top quality performances at either major studios or poverty row. No other actor could sound more menacing simply by saying "do you happen to have a match?" or show such contempt for anything decent when he brings a handkerchief to his face when accused of being a mass murderer!!! The female lead was Sheila Terry, a sultry pre-code actress more used to uncredited bits than starring parts - in this movie she got a chance to be more than just background dressing!!When Jerome Breen (Atwill) is identified as a murderer, defense attorneys punch holes in the cleaner's statement when he claims that Breen stopped to talk to him as it is well known that Breen is a deaf mute!! Someone who isn't convinced by Breen's saintly reputation is newspaper man Jack Burton (Theodore Newton) - he has an uphill battle trying to convince his girl, society editor Jerry Crane (Terry). She is always praising Breen's philanthropy and must be the only one in town who isn't suspicious, especially when one of his associates (Paul Fix) promises Jack a scoop but is killed before he can name the murderer!! His mother, though, definitely identifies Breen but he speaks to her as well, asking for a light and then inquiring about the time!!Sheila Terry was good and you wonder why her career didn't lead to bigger things. Her Jerry (why are all newspaper girls called Jerry!!) is smart, even while she lets herself be romanced by the smooth Breen. Lucien Prival looks as though he was born to play oily villains, here he is Jenks, Breen's ominous butler whose crafty looks and darting glances warn the viewer from the start that something is fishy. Packs a big wallop for only 63 minutes. Police beat a path to his door but Breen seems impregnable to their tricks - only because Jenks is stealthily giving him an advanced high sign. But when Paul Hurst sits down at the piano ("playing helps me think"), the eyes have it and Breen shows that he can not only hear but a note from the piano will reveal an inner room and give the game away!!Hurst is excellent as the hard boiled flat foot and is given the closing gag "They all laughed when I sat down to the piano"!! Gilbert Warrenton who delivered some eerie, fantastical photography on "The Cat and the Canary" and "The Man Who Laughs" did a turnaround here and displayed some very low key split screen effects!!

If someone asks you, "Do you happen to have the correct time?," you can be sure that, as soon as he leaves, you'll find around the corner, or in the next office, or in an upstairs bedroom, a corpse...brutally strangled. The problem is, the person who asked you the time is a deaf mute. A serial killer has been prowling Gotham knocking off stockbrokers, and in the 63 minutes it takes to tell this story three deaths will occur, not counting the three that happened earlier. The suspect is Jerome Breen (Lionel Atwill), a wealthy stockbroker and a respected philanthropist. Witnesses swear he was the man who at each killing asked them the time. Yet doctors testify that Breen has been a deaf mute from birth, with a paralyzed larynx which is proved to be caused by a genetic defect. The cops can't lay a hand on him. Jack Berton (Theodore Newton), a hot-shot reporter, is determined to crack the case. Things get complicated when his girl friend at the paper, Jerry Crane (Sheila Terry), decides to write a series on Breen's life and good works. It's not long before she finds she likes Breen a lot...and he's showing interest in her. The climax comes with a twist and a feint, and involves Breen's ornate and lavish home, a piano with a deadened key, a sliding door, a hidden room, a suspicious butler, gun play and a poison ring. What more could you want in little more than an hour? Not much more, I hope, because this is a fine example of a cheap B movie that delivers the goods. Yes, the two romantic leads are a bit clunky, but the secondary cast features amusing performances, especially by Detective Terence Aloysius Hogan (Paul Hurst) and Jinks the butler (Lucien Privet). Lionel Atwill as the deaf mute is who the movie is all about and he does a fine job. He has a well-modulated voice, acts stylishly in a tux or a smoking jacket and uses his eyes to great effect. He was an actor whose eyes could look as crazy as George Zucco's; here he uses them to convey many kinds of emotion. Atwill's career was often in B movies with an occasional part in A-level films. I've always thought he was an interesting actor who usually kept the ham under wraps. He also could be funny by playing with a straight face. Watch him in Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be or as the police chief in Son of Frankenstein who uses his wooden arm as a place to stick his darts. Mel Brooks owes him one. The Sphinx is dated, but it still works fairly well. I think this is because many, perhaps most, of these B quickies weren't the work of artists or even craftsmen. They were the work of skilled journeymen who knew how to crank out the product while making sure the story was interesting, the dialogue was smart enough to keep us paying attention and the action kept us moving along. Think of these men and women as carpenters who knew how to throw together a solid table that could bear weight, not wobble and do it on time and under budget, The Sphinx, like so many of these old cheapies, is in the public domain and will never see better treatment than what they've already received.

The bad guy in this is so much better than all the other characters combined. This is odd because he barely speaks a word. Lionel Atwill's expressions and posturing are pretty remarkable. He is killing off stockbrokers who wouldn't go along with his wishes. In the process, he must cover his tracks. By speaking to someone at the crime scenes, he confuses the law enforcement people. The plot is basically a young writer trying to prove that Breen (Atwill) is the guilty party. His love interest, a reporter, is doing a series of stories on this benevolent deaf mute. She is in constant danger and is too bullheaded to listen to anyone's advice. This movie kept me guessing throughout and was a lot of fun. There are some stereotypically incompetent police there to poke fun at. They have allowed these stock brokers to get killed and can't seem to figure anything out. But it comes to a nice boil with some surprises, and keeps the audience guessing, even if the ending is a bit unsatisfying.

There is something chilling about Lionel Atwill in this movie. With out saying nary a word he manages to make you want to crawl out of your skin. The plot of a mute man on trial for a murder committed by a killer who spoke is filled with pitfalls and possibilities. The film avoids most of the former while finding many of the latter in telling a very good story.But above it all is Atwill who manages to keep you in suspense to the very end, milking the fact that he can't use that magnificent voice of his for any effects what so ever. Its like stripping a great singer of their voice and then still having them convey the emotion of the music by gestures alone.No its not perfect, there are bits that have dated slightly, for example the sign language is silly, but its still a good thriller with a great performance at its center.7 out of 10