It is a performances centric movie

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Interesting that even a minor studio like Monagram would put out a film like The Sphinx in 1933 which had as its premise the murder of several stockbrokers. In the midst of the Depression some would consider that a public service. Also unusual that an actor with the rich speaking voice of Lionel Atwill would consent to a role where he has to be a mute.In fact Atwill is a known philanthropist and few can believe that of all people this man could be a serial killer. Those that find out his secret meet with a demise themselves.Atwill did some great films and some truly trashy ones, but he's always interesting to watch and listen to. Next to Atwill the one in the cast you'll remember is Luis Alberni. He has a wonderful comic role as a witness to one of the killings and his interrogation by the police and the press is also memorable.Definitely for fans of Lionel Atwill.

This is an ingenious and interesting B thriller. The 'sphinx' is a deaf mute, who is, to say the least, extraordinarily enigmatic. (No Egyptian connection! Not a pyramid in sight!) Lionel Atwill plays 'the sphinx' and makes the part very compelling. The mystery is: how can this man who, the doctors say, has been deaf and mute from birth, be a psychopathic murderer who always speaks to the witnesses of his crimes? This takes a lot of figuring out. He is tried and acquitted of murder, natch. But is there more to this? The ingenue role is played by Sheila Terry, who is extremely lively and is very like Fay Wray but without the steamy sensuous air about her. Her eyes sparkle, one wants to go on watching her, and it is a pity she quit films early and died aged only 46. (Here she is 23.) A young fellow of considerable charm is always trying to get her to marry him, played very well by Theodore Newton. Luis Alberni plays an amusing character part. This is a cheapie but a goodie.

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.

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