The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Tod Browning's final feature length film is a dandy. It seems someone is killing off New York City's prestidigitators, and one of them, Mike Morgan (Robert Young) wants to know why; plus he may be the next victim. As Red Buttons used to say, "Strange things are happening." Murder victims disappear; murder victims reappear as apparitions. Never fear. Police Inspector Marty Gavigan (Cliff Clark) is hot on the case with his at times able assistant Detective Quinn (William Demarest).A mysterious blond, Judy Barclay (Florence Rice), dashes from a taxi cab seeking sanctuary in Mike Morgan's abode of tricks and treats. Who is after her? Why is she interested in Mike Morgan? What is her relationship to the other magicians of New York City? The plot thickens as one by one some of the questions are answered, but not all until the very end. Mike Morgan is a topnotch magician who doesn't believe in the hocus-pocus of fake mediums out to scam innocent citizens. Yet so much is cloudy and mysterious he and the Inspector contact spiritualist Madame Rapport (Gloria Holden). Even though rapport with her is lacking, they hope to flush out the killer and uncover the motive behind the crimes.With Tod Browning's circus background, the magic tricks and other special effects sequences are given an authentic presentation. Given the technological limitations of the day, some of the feats of magic shown are amazing. Another positive note, all the ethereal occurrences are explained through reasoning by Mike Morgan.Robert Young shines in the lead role. Later, he became typecast twice. First as the perfect father, Jim Anderson, in "Father Knows Best" and then as everybody's perfect family doctor, "Marcus Welby, M.D." Many of the present generation don't realize that he had a long, successful screen career previous to his TV roles. He made many good movies, in particular the noir thrillers "They Won't Believe Me," and "The Second Woman." Florence Rice too turns in a fine performance. She failed to survive the 1930's because critics claimed she was in films as a result of her father's (Grantland Rice) influence. That's a pity since she showed so much promise.For some reason, mystery movies of the 1930's required a dumb detective, most of whom acted so stupid that they became annoying rather than funny. This time around the supposed nitwit turns out to be the great character actor William Demarest. As always, he really can deliver the laughs.The prestidigitator Tauro is played by Harold Minjir who usually overacts in his many supporting film appearances. This time, maybe because Tod Browning keeps him in check, he turns in an effective performance.And, oh, yes, look for Charles Lane the indefatigable as the Fleetwood Apartments desk clerk, still alive at 101 and still available for work.

I am no scholar of Tod Browning. Therefore, it's not clear to me why his career seems to have ended so early and with this movie. It's a mystery, with a bit of comedy and quite a bit of romance. Robert Young is excellent in the lead role, and he is not an actor I ever liked much. The supporting cast is superb. The spooky looking Gloria Holden is especially effective, though listed way down in the credits.This man directed Dracula, a very famous movie, and Freaks, a unique and endlessly fascinating movie. Why did his career end within the same decade as those two? This is, despite its name leads, a programmer. The late 1930s and the 1940s were filled with hybrids like this. Not much of a swan song, I'd say.

I understand this was the famous Todd Browning's final film; well, he certainly picked a good one to go out on. MIRACLES FOR SALE is a murder mystery with a twist: all the suspects are either magicians or oculists. This naturally makes for a very spooky and atmospheric thriller, which is well handled by Browning and the cast. Robert Young is perfect as the glib magician hero, Florence Rice is appealing as the frightened heroine, and Frank Craven and Cliff Clark supply some hilarious dialogue. Unlike many murder mysteries of this vintage, though, MIRACLES doesn't fall into unsuspenseful slapstick by trying to ape the Thin Man films--it gets positively creepy in parts. Also refreshing is the fact that Young's character doesn't deny the existence of the supernatural: he just thinks that the murder in this case is the work of humans. As you would expect in a magician murder mystery, there are several tricks and illusions in the plot, one of which took me in completely. My brother, an amateur magician of sorts, also passed this one on the accuracy of its depiction of the magic profession. Check it out; you won't be disappointed.

"Miracles for Sale" still attracts interest because it was the last film directed by cult figure Tod Browning. (He contributed to one screenplay after this film, but didn't direct it.)"Miracles for Sale" is SO CLOSE to being a good film. The action takes place at a convention of magicians, and we meet one of each type: there's a card-trick specialist, an escape artist, and so forth. A magician gets murdered in an "impossible" way: obviously, one of the other magicians committed the murder, using some kind of conjuror's trick. But whodunnit, and how?This film violates the most basic rule of magic: never do the same trick twice for the same audience, unless you do it two different ways. In one scene, sitting at a breakfast table, Robert Young casually waves his hand and makes a sugar bowl vanish into thin air. We didn't expect it, so we don't see how he did it. He orders another sugar bowl from the waiter, played by the annoying bit-part actor Chester Clute. When it arrives, Young waves his hand again and makes the second sugar bowl vanish too, by the same method. This time we're expecting it, so we see how he does it ... and you'll be as disappointed as I was.One scene is very eerie for a few seconds, when Young discovers a typewriter busily typing out a death threat ALL BY ITSELF, with no human operator. We see the typewriter's keys moving, with nobody touching them. Spooky! But then we notice that the keys are moving IN SEQUENCE from left to right, so the typewriter can't be typing out any message except QWERTYUIOP ASDFGHJKL. I wish that MGM's special-effects department had worked a little harder on this scene, and made the typewriter keys move randomly.Frank Craven (the original Stage Manager in "Our Town") gives a decent performance here. He has some funny lines about how much he hates New York City, and what a lousy place New York City is. The payoff for this schtick is vaguely amusing. A funnier bit occurs near the end, when Craven gets caught in a Rube Goldberg contraption which forcibly dresses him in a ridiculous costume.Florence Rice, the love interest in this film, is blond and pretty but not very talented. Her father was Grantland Rice, a very popular (and powerful) sportswriter in the 1930s, and her brief film career was largely due to his influence.At one point in "Miracles for Sale", one of this film's cast members appears (in heavy make-up) disguised as another cast member, and we're supposed to be fooled. I spotted the disguise, which helped me solve the mystery. You'll probably spot it too.I give "Miracles for Sale" 6 points out of 10, and one of those points is merely a tribute to Tod Browning.