- 5/5/2025
🚂 Case of The Night Train Riddle (1955) is a gripping black-and-white mystery thriller that takes audiences on a suspenseful ride through foggy rail lines, smoky compartments, and tangled secrets. Set against the backdrop of post-war intrigue, this 1955 classic whodunit delivers old-school suspense with tight pacing, memorable performances, and a labyrinthine plot worthy of the genre’s golden age.
Directed by the mysterious yet effective Harold J. Moonlight, the film uses noir-influenced cinematography and confined train settings to build a mounting sense of paranoia. The Night Train, with its dimly lit cabins, muffled footsteps, and whispers in the dark, becomes more than just a mode of travel—it’s a character in itself, full of secrets, betrayal, and danger.
🔍 Plot Summary:
🕵️♂️ The Case of the Night Train Riddle begins on a rainy evening in London, as Detective Arnold Kane (played with cool precision by George Brent) boards the midnight train to Edinburgh. A former military intelligence officer turned private investigator, Kane is hired by a distressed widow, Mrs. Evelyn Norwood (played by Joan Bennett), to shadow a mysterious passenger who, she suspects, holds the key to her husband’s sudden and violent death.
Kane finds himself sharing a train compartment with an eclectic group of passengers: a neurotic novelist, a blind violinist, a charming American businessman with a hidden past, and a governess with a secret letter. As the journey unfolds, a chilling message is discovered scrawled on a mirror: "Murder rides the midnight train."
🎭 Each character has a motive, but only one has the means—and the train won’t stop until dawn.
With the train hurtling forward and the mystery deepening, Kane races against time to decode a cryptic poem left behind in the victim’s journal—the titular “Night Train Riddle.” Every stanza corresponds to a location on the train and an aspect of the murder. With each clue, Kane inches closer to the killer… who may be watching his every move.
A sudden derailment outside York forces the passengers into closer quarters, and the atmosphere reaches a fever pitch. As loyalties shift and alliances are tested, Kane must rely on intuition, wartime skills, and a touch of luck to expose the truth before the killer strikes again.
👥 Cast:
🎩 George Brent as Detective Arnold Kane
👒 Joan Bennett as Mrs. Evelyn Norwood
📚 Ian Carmichael as Rupert Vane, the Novelist
🎻 Felix Aylmer as Professor Hart, the Violinist
🎭 Faith Brook as Clara Dennison, the Governess
💼 Dan Duryea as Mr. Mason, the American Businessman
🧳 Ellen Pollock as Miss Vera Henson, the Train Attendant
🎫 Ernest Thesiger as Conductor Bellamy
Directed by the mysterious yet effective Harold J. Moonlight, the film uses noir-influenced cinematography and confined train settings to build a mounting sense of paranoia. The Night Train, with its dimly lit cabins, muffled footsteps, and whispers in the dark, becomes more than just a mode of travel—it’s a character in itself, full of secrets, betrayal, and danger.
🔍 Plot Summary:
🕵️♂️ The Case of the Night Train Riddle begins on a rainy evening in London, as Detective Arnold Kane (played with cool precision by George Brent) boards the midnight train to Edinburgh. A former military intelligence officer turned private investigator, Kane is hired by a distressed widow, Mrs. Evelyn Norwood (played by Joan Bennett), to shadow a mysterious passenger who, she suspects, holds the key to her husband’s sudden and violent death.
Kane finds himself sharing a train compartment with an eclectic group of passengers: a neurotic novelist, a blind violinist, a charming American businessman with a hidden past, and a governess with a secret letter. As the journey unfolds, a chilling message is discovered scrawled on a mirror: "Murder rides the midnight train."
🎭 Each character has a motive, but only one has the means—and the train won’t stop until dawn.
With the train hurtling forward and the mystery deepening, Kane races against time to decode a cryptic poem left behind in the victim’s journal—the titular “Night Train Riddle.” Every stanza corresponds to a location on the train and an aspect of the murder. With each clue, Kane inches closer to the killer… who may be watching his every move.
A sudden derailment outside York forces the passengers into closer quarters, and the atmosphere reaches a fever pitch. As loyalties shift and alliances are tested, Kane must rely on intuition, wartime skills, and a touch of luck to expose the truth before the killer strikes again.
👥 Cast:
🎩 George Brent as Detective Arnold Kane
👒 Joan Bennett as Mrs. Evelyn Norwood
📚 Ian Carmichael as Rupert Vane, the Novelist
🎻 Felix Aylmer as Professor Hart, the Violinist
🎭 Faith Brook as Clara Dennison, the Governess
💼 Dan Duryea as Mr. Mason, the American Businessman
🧳 Ellen Pollock as Miss Vera Henson, the Train Attendant
🎫 Ernest Thesiger as Conductor Bellamy
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00The End
00:30The End
01:00I had persuaded Sherlock Holmes to take a brief holiday with me.
01:18As we rumbled through the countryside, it was a comforting thought indeed,
01:22that for a while anyway, there would be no desperate men at the door of our flat in Bakersfield,
01:26no life-and-death cases to solve.
01:30Ahead were four whole days as suspended and happily uneventful as this train trip.
01:37Hello.
01:55Are you hearing?
01:56Not a thing.
01:58Well, I hope we haven't heard anything. We must be doing 30 miles an hour.
02:01Oh, we're doing more than that, I think, Watson.
02:04I thought you were asleep, Holmes.
02:06Well, not really. I was thinking about that Parkinson axe murder.
02:10You know, that unfortunate business in South Africa.
02:12Holmes!
02:12I was wondering...
02:13What?
02:14You are on holiday.
02:16Oh, yes.
02:17Yes, of course. Quite right, Watson.
02:18Quite right.
02:19Mr. Holmes?
02:20Yes, I'm Mr. Holmes.
02:26I thought I recognized your name on the reserve passenger list.
02:28I thought you might be able to help us.
02:30We seem to have had a sort of an accident.
02:32An accident or an incident?
02:34Well, I suppose you could call it an incident.
02:36But one of our passengers has disappeared.
02:39Disappeared?
02:41A boy. He was traveling with this young lady here.
02:43Paul is his name. Paul Windmaster.
02:45You must find him.
02:46I've heard you can do things like that, Mr. Holmes.
02:48Will you help me?
02:50There, there, there.
02:51I'm his governess.
02:53I should never have taken my eyes off him for a minute.
02:55But I looked in on him after he went to bed
02:57and was fool enough to imagine that everything was all right.
03:00Do you think he might have been kidnapped?
03:02No, I'm sure Paul ran away.
03:04How will I ever be able to face his father?
03:07I think you'd better sit down, Miss...
03:10Kendall. Lydia Kendall.
03:12Miss Kendall.
03:13And tell us everything from the beginning.
03:15I'm sure we can be of help.
03:17Sit down.
03:19Tell me, Miss Kendall, what happened that made the boy run away?
03:26Mr. Holmes, have you ever heard of Paul's father, Lance Windmaster?
03:30Oh, yes.
03:31Ripsaw Windmaster.
03:33The Canadian Timber King.
03:35The papers call him that.
03:37As rough and strong a man as the trees he cuts down.
03:40Paul not having a mother since the age of two
03:41has grown to be like him in many ways.
03:44Independent, wild.
03:45Believe me, I've had a full-time job.
03:47I can imagine.
03:49Mr. Windmaster never disciplined him.
03:51Was actually proud of Paul's spirit.
03:54Until one day, rather suddenly,
03:56struck him that he was bringing the boy up him properly.
03:59You asked me what caused the boy to run away.
04:01It was just that.
04:02And yesterday, when I went out to fetch Paul,
04:05I began to see the first signs of what was about to happen.
04:14Paul!
04:16Paul!
04:20Paul, you'll have to come home now and get dressed.
04:22We're all packed and ready to go.
04:24Yes, Miss Kendall.
04:27Hurry now, we can't miss the train.
04:39Now, when you arrive at the school,
04:40you'll take the boy directly to the headmaster.
04:43He's received a full letter of instructions from me.
04:45And...
04:46Oh, there you are, Paul.
04:48Your Uncle Cecil's just arrived to say goodbye to you.
04:53Here's wishing you success, Paul.
04:55Thank you, sir.
04:56You'll be taught to be a gentleman.
04:58Something which, your mother forgive me,
05:00I fail to do.
05:02Yes, Father.
05:04What have you got there?
05:05White mice.
05:07White?
05:08Now, look here, Paul.
05:10You certainly don't intend to take them to school with you.
05:13I can't leave them here.
05:14Nobody would look after them.
05:16Now, that's foolish.
05:17Nobody really cares about white mice here.
05:20Just me.
05:20Well, you can give them back to whoever gave you them.
05:23You mean Coco.
05:24Who?
05:25Coco the Clown.
05:26I'm afraid I introduced him to Coco.
05:29The day I took him to the circus.
05:30They've become rather good friends.
05:32Well, I couldn't give them back.
05:34He gave them to me as a gift.
05:35Paul, I don't care what you do with them,
05:37but you can take them with you, and that's final.
05:39All right.
05:41Leave them here, then.
05:46Good boy.
05:46Well, you and Miss Kendall had better be off.
05:52Well, what's the matter?
05:54I don't want to go to school.
05:55What?
05:56You didn't go to school.
05:58Why should I?
05:59Times were different when I was young.
06:01You don't know what you're saying.
06:03I have my horse and my white mice,
06:05and Coco and I are supposed to meet next week.
06:07You can't run wild all your life.
06:09You grow up to be a savage.
06:11But Lydia could teach me everything I need to know right here.
06:14Miss Kendall isn't a teacher.
06:15She's a governess.
06:16She knows as much as anyone.
06:22Now listen to me, Paul.
06:24One day you'll come into possession of everything I own.
06:27This estate, my lumber mills, everything.
06:30When that day comes, I want you to be equipped to take over.
06:34Well, I don't have to go to school for that.
06:36And I don't have to wear a tie and jacket either.
06:39You wear a tie and jacket and you like it.
06:41And you're starting the school right now.
06:44Put me down.
06:45I don't want to go to school.
06:47I'll run away.
06:48Put me down.
06:48I'll run away.
06:49Put me down.
06:50Are you coming?
06:51Put me down.
06:52Put me down.
06:53Put me down.
06:53He boarded the train without further protest.
06:58The truth is, his attitude seemed to have undergone quite a change.
07:01By the time we started out, he behaved almost as if he were looking forward to going to school.
07:06But of course, the whole thing was a ruse to put me off my guard.
07:10You said before you saw the boy after he went to bed.
07:13Now, what time was that?
07:15About eight.
07:16And what time did you find that he was missing?
07:19About an hour later.
07:21I heard a thud coming from his compartment and went to investigate.
07:25His door was locked from the inside and I had to get the conductor here to open it for me.
07:29How he got out, I don't know, but he was gone.
07:31And of course, you searched the whole train out there.
07:33Oh, every inch of it with the conductor here.
07:36I decided to stop the train when we couldn't find him.
07:38Oh, conductor, I believe there's a steep gradient just a few miles beyond Darcy.
07:43Yes, there is.
07:44Now, how slowly would the train be going at that time, do you think?
07:47Oh, about five miles an hour, very slowly, sir.
07:51Well, in that case, I suggest that we borrow a cart from a farmer in the vicinity of Darcy
07:56and go back and search that area.
07:58Yes, sir, I'll take care of it immediately, sir.
08:00What was the number of the boy's compartment?
08:03Thirty-seven.
08:05Well, Dr. Watson and I will take a look at it.
08:07No, no, no, there's no need for you to come with us.
08:09I think you'd better stay here and rest.
08:12Now, you mustn't worry.
08:13Small boys make a habit of disappearing and reappearing.
08:17I hope so.
08:24I hope so.
08:39Well, you certainly simplified the search and you narrowed down the area to Darcy.
08:42Here, Watson, give me a hand with this window, will you?
08:44Yes, sir.
08:45Well, that was the sound Miss Kendall heard, the sound of the window being opened before
08:54the boy jumped out.
08:55By Jove, you're right.
08:57The question is, who helped the boy open the window?
09:00Well, it took two of us to do it.
09:01Exactly.
09:04Good heavens, Holmes, do you mean that he must have had an accomplice?
09:06Of course he must have.
09:07Yes, but who knows who would want to help a little boy to run away?
09:11Well, when we know that, Watson, we will have the answer to the problem of the boy who didn't
09:15want to go to school.
09:16Now we return to the case of the night train riddle.
09:34Taking home suggestion, we borrowed a cart and traced the rail line back to the upgrade
09:40near Darcy.
09:41We combed the area several times without uncovering a single clue.
09:46All of us were soon discouraged and ready to abandon the search.
09:51All of us, that is, except Holmes.
09:54We've been over this stretch three times already, Holmes.
09:58Yes, I know, but this is the only place where the boy could have jumped off.
10:00But we haven't got a shred of evidence, not a sight of anything, nothing at all.
10:03Oh, look, what is it?
10:07A boy's cat.
10:09Miss Kendall, would you mind coming over here for a moment?
10:14Is that the boy's cat?
10:15Oh, yes, yes, that's his.
10:16Then it has to be here.
10:19Look, over here.
10:24Here we are, Watson, the footprints of a small boy.
10:31Holmes, look, another set.
10:32Must be the boy's accomplice.
10:35Ah, good work, Watson.
10:39They end here.
10:45Then it's quite clear what happened.
10:47Up to me.
10:48Well, they obviously boarded another train, a local, I imagine, traveling in the same direction
10:52as we were.
10:53We do pull alongside a local here, Mr. Holmes, the up train from Royal Minster.
10:58Well, how do they do that?
10:59Change trains in midstream, so to speak.
11:02Well, obviously, Watson, if both trains were traveling slowly enough.
11:05They do.
11:06It's possible, entirely possible, Mr. Holmes.
11:08Uh, conductor, I think you'd better telegraph ahead and have them stop that train.
11:12Yes, sir.
11:12Do you think they'll find him, Mr. Holmes?
11:14Well, we are near enough to the truth, Miss Kendall, not to have to speculate anymore.
11:18We will soon know.
11:23We began a hasty return to the night express, aboard which we hoped to catch the locals.
11:29Holmes insisted that time was of the utmost importance.
11:32Holmes, I'm sorry.
11:47I thought to another boy.
11:50Perhaps the next compartment.
11:51Well, this is the last one, Miss.
11:54You held out so much hope, Mr. Holmes.
11:56How many stops did the train make before Darcy?
12:00Three, same as usual.
12:02Did you notice a boy get out of one of them?
12:05Not that I remember.
12:06There was a boy.
12:07I talked with him.
12:08He got off with his father at Manborough.
12:11Are you sure?
12:11Yes, there was that pair.
12:15Blimey, I clean forgot.
12:17What did the father look like?
12:20Hmm.
12:21Medium size, grey hair, ordinary face.
12:24Wait.
12:26I noticed when I expected his ticket, there was something about his fingertips.
12:29They were red.
12:31Red?
12:32Yeah.
12:33I thought it was strange at the time.
12:35Hmm.
12:36That's most observant of you, conductor.
12:38That proves it, Watson.
12:40Holmes, do you know who he is?
12:41Of course.
12:42Coco the Clown.
12:44Coco the Clown?
12:45He was the boy's friend.
12:47But more than that, there's the red fingertips.
12:49The significance of which completely escapes me.
12:52Rouge, Watson, the same kind of clown users.
12:55He was evidently in a great hurry to catch the train.
12:56He didn't have time to remove it all.
12:58Well, if you're only right, Mr. Holmes.
13:01And unless I miss my guess, we'll find them both in Manborough now.
13:11Watson, Miss Kennedy is sending a wire to the headmaster of the school, telling him they've been delayed.
13:21As soon as she's finished, we can be off.
13:23Hmm?
13:24What's the matter with you?
13:26You don't look like someone who wants to be taken to the circus.
13:28Holmes, do you realize it has taken me the last solid three weeks of pleading and cajoling to persuade you to take this trip?
13:36And now look where we end up, in Manborough.
13:39And don't you underestimate.
13:40We can have a very exciting holiday here.
13:42Oh, holiday?
13:43We might as well have pitched a tentative list trade's office.
13:45I know, but we couldn't very well refuse to help them.
13:48No, we couldn't have refused to help them.
13:51Ah, but when we eventually find whoever it is who's at the bottom of this thing, please remember one thing.
13:56He's my pigeon.
13:57Don't upset yourself, Watson.
13:59As soon as we can find the boy, we can continue on our journey.
14:02Oh, I'm glad you'll still consider that.
14:05Well, shall we be getting along?
14:08Oh, by the way, Watson, I didn't mention to Miss Kennedy, but I believe there's some possibility the boy may be in danger.
14:13So I don't think we ought to lose too much time.
14:15Not a very convenient place to leave luggage.
14:24Holmes!
14:25You, you, you've got to wait a minute.
14:27We've left all our bags in the train.
14:28There's no time to worry about that now, Watson.
14:30Come along.
14:31But look, Holmes, we've got to leave everything in them for our four days.
14:35All right, I'll find Miss Kendall and get a carriage and we'll meet you in the street.
14:39Now, hurry up.
14:40Right.
14:46Could you tell me if the night express is gone yet?
14:48We had to switch back to the main line.
14:49I wondered if we're still in the yard somewhere.
14:51I'm mostly sorry, sir.
14:53You must have the wrong town.
14:54Now I know where I am.
14:55I'm in Manborough.
14:56Right you are, sir.
14:57But the night express doesn't stop in Manborough.
15:00Never has.
15:01Except once.
15:02But, confounded man, I know it stops here.
15:04Oh, no, sir.
15:06The only time the night express ever stopped in Manborough was in the summer of 88.
15:10A wheel fell off the locomotive.
15:12Right off point here it happened.
15:14It stopped all right that night.
15:15Now, look here.
15:17This is urgent.
15:18I happen to know the night express stops here because I got off the thing at this station.
15:23Now, will you kindly go and find out if it's still here?
15:26Well, I have to go down to the yard area.
15:29In about five minutes, I'll ask the signal box.
15:31Five minutes?
15:32Oh, never mind.
15:35Watson.
15:36Come along.
15:36The carriage is waiting.
15:37Look.
15:43The luggage.
15:47Cecil, open up.
16:07Did it work?
16:19We jumped off.
16:20Switched trains.
16:22Ta-da!
16:23Like a couple of acrobats.
16:24Where's the boy now?
16:35Exactly where I want him.
16:37Come on.
16:38Get away!
16:39Who's left?
16:39Go!
16:40Go!
16:40Go!
16:43Go!
16:55Go!
17:00Go!
17:03Go!
17:03Come on!
17:05Well, bear and get it over with.
17:23I was waiting for a down payment.
17:26How much?
17:30A hundred pounds should do it.
17:35That's cheap enough to show you a good face.
17:47I'll expect the rest when I finish.
18:05I'll expect the rest when I finish.
18:14I'll expect the rest when I finish.
18:17I'll expect the rest when I finish.
18:47Here, Watson.
18:52Take this gun and fire it up into the air.
18:54To the air?
18:55Yes, just to pin him down.
18:56What are you going to do?
18:57I'm going to find out who he is and why he's trying to keep us from the boy.
19:00Well, go on, Watson.
19:01Fire it.
19:02Sorry, Holmes.
19:03This one's mine.
19:04What?
19:05Watson!
19:05Watson!
19:06Here!
19:07Fire it, Holmes!
19:07Fire it!
19:08Oh, very well.
19:09Come along, Miss Kendall.
19:33Watson, you're a fool who takes such a risk.
19:35Now, with you covering me, I couldn't miss.
19:38Get up.
19:45Mr. Windmaster's brother.
19:47Oh, Uncle Cecil.
19:51Yes, I'm the first in line to inherit the Windmaster fortune.
19:53If anything had happened to the boy.
19:55If that's right, you would be the heir.
19:57You may not think so at the moment, Mr. Windmaster, but you're very fortunate.
20:01If the boy had been killed, you would most certainly have been hanged.
20:05Hanged?
20:06Yes.
20:07Hanged.
20:09Stop him.
20:10Stop who?
20:12Coco.
20:12He's about to kill the boy.
20:14Push him off the catwalk backstage.
20:15Up there.
20:43Coco?
20:43Coco?
20:45Don't come any closer.
20:54I'm coming down.
21:00You'll never get out of here.
21:02One move to stop me and I'll kill this boy.
21:15Don't come any closer.
21:28You always get down.
21:32Come on.
21:32Come on.
21:33Come on, facilities.
21:34THE END
22:04Perfect timing, Watson.
22:22Yes, it wasn't bad, even though I didn't say so myself.
22:25He wanted to kill me, and I thought he was a friend.
22:28Well, that should teach you a lesson, Paul.
22:30No one's a friend who encourages a boy to run away from school.
22:33Why, what would have become of Dr. Watson here if he hadn't gone to school?
22:36Well, it's very simple.
22:38He'd never have been able to accomplish that trick.
22:40But all he did was to...
22:41In dropping that counterweight, young man,
22:43I had to know the speed of falling objects,
22:46the theory of weight and counterweight,
22:48and of stress and resistance.
22:51Now, if I hadn't studied physics,
22:52there's no telling what might have happened to you.
22:54I never thought of that.
22:56No, of course not.
22:57Well, just you think of it from now on.
23:05Watson, did you really have all that in mind
23:08when you pulled that rope?
23:09Oh, my goodness.
23:10Of course.
23:11Oh, did you?
23:12Uh-huh.
23:16Come on, you.
23:20And you.
23:21If you're looking for the time of the next London train,
23:37it will be along in ten minutes.
23:40Huh?
23:40Oh, no, no.
23:41I was just wondering where our bags would be by this time.
23:44This train seems to be somewhat off schedule.
23:48I'd estimate that our clean sheds
23:49are about 30 miles north of Edinburgh at this moment.
23:52Oh, confound it, Holmes.
23:54Why dwell on that?
23:55Oh, don't take it so hard, old chap.
23:57We'll give it another try one of these days.
24:01Well, sir, it certainly was a shock to me.
24:04Oh, it's you again.
24:06You were right, sir.
24:07The express did stop in Manborough tonight.
24:10Can't understand it.
24:12The first time since the summer of 88.
24:15Fact is, it was one and wild through here tonight, they tell me.
24:19Gave one and two in the local line first
24:20and back through here to switch over to the main line again.
24:24Can't for the life of me figure what they were up to.
24:27Left a couple of bags on our platform.
24:29No hint of a reason.
24:30Just found them there.
24:31A couple of bags, did you say?
24:34Oh, why, why, yes, sir.
24:36A suitcase-like.
24:38Don't know anything about them.
24:39One marked J.W. and the other S.H.
24:42Suppose we'll have to keep them in the office for the 30 days required.
24:47My dear sir, if you'll just leave me to your office,
24:50I think I can relieve you of those suitcases within 30 seconds.
24:54My name is John Watson.
24:56Mine will be the one marked J.W.
24:58Oh, you mean, I say, and this dear gentleman is S.H.?
25:02Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
25:03This is my friend, Samuel Higgins.
25:08Ah, well, in that case, sir,
25:10if you'll come along to the office and identify the contents,
25:13I'll be glad to get them off my hands.
25:19Samuel Higgins?
25:21Yes.
25:22You see, we have three whole days left,
25:25and I'm quite sure that nobody will want to interfere
25:28with the holiday of Samuel Higgins.
25:29Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
25:59The End
26:29The End
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