Roy D’Arcy in “The Temptress,” one of 2020’s mystery movies.
I used a different method in selecting last year’s mystery movies, relying on the trade papers available on Lantern in a systematic fashion. The films might seem iffy now, but they generally got good reviews, and sometimes raves, when they were released. And in some instances, I chose movies for their historic value regardless of the reviews, notably “Native Son.”
In general, I had more movies from the 1930s (17 in 2020 vs. 13 in 2019) and more from the 1960s (nine in 2020 vs. 3 in 2019), fewer movies from the 1940s (11 in 2020 vs. 14 in 2019) and 1950s (12 in 2020 vs. 16 in 2019). And nothing from the 1970s, vs. two films in 2019.
MGM and Warner Bros. were the top mystery movie studios in 2020 at nine each, while 20th Century-Fox went from 10 mystery films (the leader in 2019) to five in 2020.
On the jump, the mystery movie statistics for the year……
| A Child Is Born | 1939 | Warner Bros. | 12/30/2019 |
| Black Hand | 1950 | MGM | 1/6/2020 |
| Dark Command | 1940 | Republic | 1/13/2020 |
| Stage Fright | 1950 | Foreign | 1/20/2020 |
| Seven Thieves | 1960 | 20th Century-Fox | 1/27/2020 |
| Life Begins | 1932 | Warner Bros. | 2/3/2020 |
| Home From the Hill | 1960 | MGM | 2/10/2020 |
| Biography of a Bachelor Girl | 1935 | MGM | 2/17/2020 |
| Show of Shows | 1929 | Warner Bros. | 2/24/2020 |
| Deadline at Dawn | 1946 | RKO | 3/2/2020 |
| Last Voyage | 1960 | MGM | 3/9/2020 |
| Gentlemen Are Born | 1935 | Warner Bros. | 3/16/2020 |
| Royal Scandal | 1945 | 20th Century-Fox | 3/23/2020 |
| Interrupted Melody | 1955 | MGM | 3/30/2020 |
| It Happened on 5th Avenue | 1947 | Allied Artists | 4/6/2020 |
| The Fugitive Kind | 1960 | United Artists | 4/13/2020 |
| Hell Harbor | 1930 | Independent | 4/20/2020 |
| Dude Goes West | 1948 | independent | 4/27/2020 |
| Fighting Father Dunne | 1948 | RKO | 5/4/2020 |
| Tell No Tales | 1939 | MGM | 5/11/2020 |
| Swiss Family Robinson | 1940 | RKO | 5/18/2020 |
| Road to Paradise | 1930 | Warner Bros. | 5/25/2020 |
| Mickey | 1918 | Independent | 6/1/2020 |
| Macomber Affair | 1947 | United Artists | 6/8/2020 |
| Lonely Are the Brave | 1962 | Universal | 6/15/2020 |
| I Take This Woman | 1940 | MGM | 6/22/2020 |
| Black Scorpion | 1957 | Independent | 6/29/2020 |
| Other Men’s Women | 1931 | Warner Bros. | 7/6/2020 |
| The Last Man on Earth | 1964 | Independent | 7/13/2020 |
| Forbidden | 1932 | Columbia | 7/20/2020 |
| Condemned Women | 1938 | RKO | 7/27/2020 |
| The Snake Pit | 1948 | Fox | 8/3/2020 |
| The Temptress | 1926 | MGM | 8/10/2020 |
| The Sniper | 1952 | Columbia | 8/17/2020 |
| The Long Arm/ Third Key | 1956 | foreign | 8/24/2020 |
| Treasure of the Golden Condor | 1953 | 20th Century-Fox | 8/31/2020 |
| Vicki | 1953 | 20th Century-Fox | 9/7/2020 |
| Atomic Submarine | 1959 | Allied Artists | 9/14/2020 |
| Girl From 10th Avenue | 1935 | Warner Bros. | 9/21/2020 |
| Confession | 1937 | Warner Bros. | 9/28/2020 |
| False Faces | 1932 | Independent | 10/5/2020 |
| Pepe | 1960 | Columbia | 10/12/2020 |
| Native Son | 1951 | Foreign | 10/19/2020 |
| Ghost Breakers | 1940 | Paramount | 10/26/2020 |
| Washington Merry-Go-Round | 1932 | Columbia | 11/2/2020 |
| The Crooked Web | 1955 | Columbia | 11/9/2020 |
| For Love or Money | 1963 | Universal | 11/16/2020 |
| Queen of the Orange Bowl | 1960 | TV | 11/23/2020 |
| Darby O’Gill and the Little People | 1959 | Disney | 11/30/2020 |
| The Last Gangster | 1937 | MGM | 12/7/2020 |
| Marshal of Mesa City | 1939 | RKO | 12/14/2020 |
| I Am a Thief | 1934 | Warner Bros. | 12/21/2020 |
| Florentine Dagger | 1935 | Warner Bros. | 12/28/2020 |
ladailymirror.com 
It’s been such a fun year! Thank you, Larry!
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My pleasure!
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