Het mysterie van de Mondscheinsonate

Summary

Screen version of Willy Corsari's popular book about the murder of a former dancer who marries a successful businessman.

Het mysterie van de Mondscheinsonate is set largely in and around a luxurious villa owned by Mr and Mrs Maerlant. Enrica longs for the freedom of her dancing days and gets in touch with her former dance partner Sascha Darinoff. Then Erica is shot dead during a secret dance rehearsal at her home. Darinoff confesses to the crime but inspector Lund suspects there is more to the story than meets the eye. Following the best tradition of the detective novel, the Maerlant household turns out to be a serpent's nest of intrigue. Everyone, from the step daughter to the chauffeur, has a motive for the murder.

Willy Corsari's detective novel 'Het mysterie van de Mondscheinsonate' was published in 1934 and introduced the character of inspector Lund, who was to put in an appearance in many of Corsari's subsequent detective novels. The screen version - made within two years of the novel's publication - was shot in Filmstad, Loet C. Barnstijn's new studio complex which was in the process of being built. Het mysterie van de Mondscheinsonate, directed by Exil director Kurt Gerron, was the studio's first big production. The publicity was huge: full page ads appeared in the 'Nieuw Weekblad voor de Cinematografie' (New Cinematographic Weekly) - '130,000 square meters of green space will be used in the service of Dutch cinema' - while the general press kept up a stream of little titbits about the shooting.