'Moss Rose' (1947) - Gregory Ratoff.

This deliciously dark period noir is blessed with an especially wonderful cast, headed by notable Thespian heavyweights Victor Mature, Peggy Cummins, Vincent Price, and Ethel Barrymore. There are deeply sinister, shadowy goings-on in director Gregory Ratoff's crepuscular, turn-of-the-century thriller, wherein the eternally thorny issue of murder most foul is capably investigated by tall, doggedly persistent, distractingly handsome police inspector R. Clinner (Vincent Price). 'Moss Rose' proved to be a moodily engaging murder mystery, with the energetic Peggy Cummins making for the endearingly plucky, courageously truth-seeking, somewhat naïve protagonist Belle Adair, with an imperious-looking Victor Mature essaying quiet subdued menace as the darkly brooding country gentleman Michael Drego. 'Moss Rose' is a dramatic delight from start to finish, while the oppressively murky backstreets of Auld Lahnden Tahn are suitably dank and foggy, the sparky, crisply-written dialogue, and colourful performances are a bloomin' delight, including some cracking, truly memorable exchanges, and the refined, evocative photography by Joseph MacDonald is very distinctive, with a wonderfully captivating score by Maestro David Buttolph, and a genuinely thrilling, nerve-fizzingly tense climax pleasantly imbue the evergreen 'Moss Rose' with the sweet smell of success!