The 40 most popular 1920s mystery movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


The Girl in His Room
1922 · 50m · US
Myra Pendleton was sent away to be raised after her mother died in childbirth. Now that she's a young woman, her father wants her to return, but instead of simply welcoming her back, he pretends to be the Pendleton Family attorney, who presents her with a lovely home. But the house actually belongs to Kirk Waring (Warner Baxter), who has been abroad. Waring returns to find that he's been swindled out of both house and fortune.
Dreary House
Dreary House
1929 · 1h 15m · US
On the day of her wedding to Paul, Mary Wheeler is given the deed to a mysterious old house that is occupied by a strange housekeeper named Nancy Crowl. Sometime later, Marc Reed, one of Mary's former suitors, arrives at the house and refuses to leave. When Marc is murdered, Mary is arrested for the crime.


Sherlock Jr.
1924 · 45m · US
A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meager skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.


Unmasked
1929 · 1h 2m
During a dinner party at the Brookfield family estate, private detective Craig Kennedy relates a story of one of his unsolved murder cases. What Kennedy knows, and the other guests do not, is that the person who was the killer in the unsolved mystery is in the room, and Kennedy makes plans to expose him.
Dr. Wislizenus
Dr. Wislizenus
1924 · 1h 5m · DE
Deep in the forest lives the bitter Dr. Wislizenus, whose childhood sweetheart Maria committed suicide ten years ago. The visit of a childhood friend, he who wrote a poem about Mary, triggers a tragedy.


The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
1927 · 1h 31m · UK
London. A mysterious serial killer brutally murders young blond women by stalking them in the night fog. One foggy, sinister night, a young man who claims his name is Jonathan Drew arrives at the guest house run by the Bunting family and rents a room.


The Verdict
1925 · 1h · US
Carol Kingsley and Jimmy Mason, who are both employed in a fashion emporium run by Pierre Ronsard, fall in love and are married. Victor Ronsard, the son of the owner, falls in love with Carol and designs to break up the Mason marriage. He falsely informs Carol that Jimmy, who is the Ronsard bookkeeper, is short in his accounts and that, if she will have dinner with him, he will give her the incriminating papers.


Belphégor
1927 · 4h 53m · FR
Belphégor deals with a series of mysterious appearances by a masked-and-robed figure in the Louvre; a security guard is murdered, and a later police trap is foiled when the phantom—“Belphégor” (the name of a legendary demon)—uses knock-out gas. Journalist Jacques Bellegarde of “Le Petit Parisien” (the real-life newspaper which published the original story in serial installments), investigates, and eventually discovers famous detective Chantecoq and his vivacious daughter Colette are also on the case.
Stolen Secrets
Stolen Secrets
1924 · 50m · US
Noted criminologist Miles Manning captures a gang of crooks by posing as a super-criminal--a mysterious man called "The Eel"--when the mayor's daughter, Cordelia, believing that he really is a crook, enlists his assistance in ridding the city of its criminals.
Handcuffed
Handcuffed
1929 · 1h · US
Gerald Morely's father is ruined in a stock fraud and commits suicide. When shortly afterwards the man who perpetrated it is murdered, the evidence is framed so that Gerald appears guilty.


Burnt Fingers
1927 · 1h · US
Anne Cabell, working as a dancer at a nightclub goes to confront a man who is blackmailing her friend with incriminating letters. When he is killed, she comes under suspicion of murder. However it turns out that he was a foreign spy, and she had nothing to do with his slaying.
Der Todfeind
Der Todfeind
1920 · DE
A wealthy man is found bludgeoned to death near a railway. The question is, who killed him and why?


Protection
1929 · 1h 2m · US
During the height of Prohibition courageous reporter Chick Slater and determined "sob sister" journalist Myrtle Hines uncover a dangerous bootlegging and extortion ring operating in their city. As they dig into the corruption, they get swept into a web of racketeers, mob violence, and romantic complications. The film explores the power of the press as the journalists risk everything to expose the criminal underworld.


Nobody
1921 · 1h 10m · US
When financier John Rossmore is found murdered in his library, suspicion points to his butler Hedges, who was instrumental in obtaining his divorce. At the trial, when the jury retires, Tom Smith, a young businessman who has sworn he does not know Rossmore, holds out for acquittal and tells his story to the jurors.


The Mask
1921 · 1h 24m · US
The Mask 1921 film


The Miracle
1923 · 34m · UK
Nayland Smith restores a `dead' man to life.
Easy Pickings
Easy Pickings
1927 · 1h · US
Simeon Van Horne is poisoned by Stewart, his lawyer, who hopes to get a part of the estate to be divided between young Peter Van Horne and Dolores, Peter's cousin. Knowing that Dolores is dead, Stewart, who catches Mary Ryan burglarizing the Van Horne home, induces her to pose as Dolores.


Backstairs
1921 · 50m · DE
In a poor neighborhood of a big city, a crippled mailman is in love with a maid who lives in his building. However, she is in love with a wealthy and handsome young man, who soon disappears. The mailman provides the maid with letters that get her hopes up... but tragedy will soon befall all three.


The Sign of Four
1923 · 1h 22m · UK
The final feature in the Eille Norwood Holmes series.


Dark Stairways
1924 · 50m · US
Sheldon Polk's father, a wealthy banker, agrees to make a loan to Frank Farnsworth. Sheldon is robbed while delivering the money and is arrested for theft on circumstantial evidence.


The Secret Spring
1923 · 3h · FR
To fulfill her Father's wish, Grand Duchess Aurora (Huguette Duflos) is forced into an unhappy marriage with Grand Duke Rudolph (Henry Houry). He prepares to leave for the Congo but is murdered by his own brother (Georges Vaultier). Aurora goes to Paris with her father and, there, is told on the phone of her husband's death. After returning to the Kingdom, she meets a tutor (Jaque Catelain) who falls in love with her..


Unknown Treasures
1926 · 1h · US
A poor man refrains from proposing to the woman he loves until he can secure the fortune left him by his uncle. Believing the treasure awaits in his uncle's abandoned mansion, he begins searching... only to uncover mystery, murder, and a killer ape.


Alias the Lone Wolf
1927 · US
Michael Lanyard, aka the Lone Wolf, is sailing to America when he meets pretty Eve de Montalais. Eve wants to sneak her valuable necklace through U.S. customs so that she can use the money from its sale to help straighten out her brother. The only problem is that there is a gang of jewel thieves on board who are just as determined to steal the necklace.


A Scandal in Bohemia
1921 · 20m · UK
Holmes and Watson match wits with an opera star intent on blackmailing a king.


Die Dreizehn aus Stahl
1921
No overview available


Luring Shadows
1921 · 56m · US
J.H. Wareing, a New York City financier, is found murdered in his library after the robbery of several securities and a necklace. Suspicion points to the butler, Jason, to whom Wareing had shown the necklace the night before. Wareing's daughter, Florence, is also a suspect and therefore denied her father's estate.


The Lone Wolf's Daughter
1929 · 1h 12m · US
Michael Lanyard, a reformed cracks-man, adopts Adrienne, the daughter of an old friend, and goes to Southampton to attend a party celebrating her engagement to Bobby Crenshaw, the son of a wealthy society couple. The Count and Countess Polinac, international jewel thieves, also attend the party, and Count Polinac forces Lanyard to open the safe containing the jewelry of the guests by threatening to expose Lanyard's criminal past. Lanyard forestalls the count, however, and protects the valuables. The count and countess are arrested, and Michael's secret is kept safe.


Beasts of Paradise
1923 · 5h · US
Philip Grant attempts to reclaim five million dollars in gold stolen from his fathers' steamer by a submarine.
The Midnight Watch
The Midnight Watch
1927 · 1h · US
The Everlasting Conflict Between Law and Order and the Underworld.


The Crimson Circle
1929 · 1h 49m · DE
Police battle against a gang of blackmailers known as The Crimson Circle.
A Midnight Adventure
A Midnight Adventure
1928 · 1h · US
A murder is committed at a country mansion. All the guests present at the estate fall under immediate suspicion as investigators attempt to solve the mystery before they strike again.


Finger Prints
1922 · 50m · US
A string of valuable pearls provides the motivation for the murder of Wareing, a widowed banker, who intended them for his daughter, Mary. She is comforted by Barton, a criminologist and friend of her late father, who appears to have left his financial affairs in a terrible state. Meanwhile, Mary's fiancé works diligently to identify the murderer. Although the criminologist places the blame on Wareing's butler, a reformed burglar, the killer is finally revealed to be Barton himself.


The Manor House of Fear
1927 · 1h 17m · FR
Since a mysterious stranger and his servant settled in a manor near a Provençal village, a wave of crimes has beenfall the country and spread terror among the inhabitants. Young Jean Lormeau, refusing to give in to fear, leaves to meet the disturbing owner to discover his secret.


A Thief in the Dark
1928 · 1h · US
Ernest, a young drifter, joins a troupe of mystics led by a Professor Xeno in a carnival. Ernest learns that his colleagues are burgling homes in districts they pass through. Ernest sets about to expose Xeno and his cohorts.


Alias the Night Wind
1923 · 50m · US
Bing Howard a former stockbroker, is called the "Night Wind" because he is a fugitive from justice, persistently being trailed by Clifford Rushton, a private detective who has framed Howard on a bond robbery. Rushton's failure to catch Howard forces the chief to turn the case over to Detective Katherine Maxwell, alias "Lady Kate," whose brother was sent to prison for bond robbery on the same evidence Rushton has brought against Howard.


Footfalls
1921 · 1h 20m
A blind cobbler is able, by dint of his extraordinary hearing, to recognize the identity of a murderer. His own son is accused of the killing, and the old man waits, knowing the murderer will return to prevent the blind man from revealing what he knows.


The Hands of Orlac
1924 · 1h 38m · AT
A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he is horrified to learn they once belonged to a murderer.


The Bar-C Mystery
1926 · 3h 20m · US
The Bar-C Mystery is a 1926 American silent Western 10 film serial directed by Robert F. Hill. Chapters: 1. A Heritage of Danger; 2. Perilous Paths; 3. The Midnight Raid; 4. Wheels of Doom; 5. Thundering Hoofs; 6. Against Desperate Odds; 7. Back from the Missing; 8. Fight for a Fortune; 9. The Wolf's Cunning; 10. A Six-Gun Wedding.


The Lost Express
1926 · 48m · US
Kidnapping and marital reconciliation drive this action film set on a millionaire's private train.
One Wonderful Night
One Wonderful Night
1922 · 50m · US
John Curtis discovers that Jean de Curtois, whose assault he has witnessed, was married a few hours earlier to Hermione Fane so that she might escape marriage to Count de Mauriat and retain her fortune.
The 1920s were silent cinema's artistic peak, when directors had perfected a purely visual storytelling language just as sound arrived to displace it. German Expressionism and Soviet montage both date from here.
Mystery films are structured around withheld information, trusting the audience to work alongside the investigator. The genre ranges from cozy whodunits to bleak, unresolved character studies.