Adapted from a crime novel by British author Leonard Gribble, much of “The Arsenal Stadium Mystery” was filmed on location at Arsenal Football Club’s former stadium, Highbury. More crucially, it also features cameos by Arsenal’s manager at the time, George Allison, and several players. The plot focuses on a friendly game between Arsenal and the fictitious amateur Trojans, which is derailed when a Trojans player suddenly drops dead in the middle of the match! (Since this movie debuted, several players have actually died on the pitch, or came close to it.)
When it’s determined that the victim was poisoned, suspicion falls not only on his teammates, but also on a former mistress. The mystery ramps up, however, when the mistress succumbs to poison herself. We also get to see some vintage footage of Arsenal playing pre-WWII, which should be of interest to historically-minded viewers.
As an aside, the movie’s director, Thorold Dickinson, was very well regarded in the British filmmaking industry. He eventually became Britain’s first university professor of film, and established the film studies department at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London in 1960.