TIME OUT FOR MURDER (1938)

Helen is a very popular woman; she's the person who announces the time, every 15 seconds on the phone (a service which I remember, though the voice was recorded, but which I imagine isn't done much anymore). Men who love her voice call constantly. Her fiancé Johnny, a bank messenger hoping to be promoted soon to clerk, drops in on his way to deliver some financial papers to Peggy Norton. At Peggy's apartment, she gives him a box of jewels to take back to the bank, but later Peggy is found murdered and Johnny is arrested, as his fingerprints are found at the scene. (There is some folderol here about the correct time that loosely ties Helen into the story, and ends up being a clue to the mystery.) Meanwhile, reporter Barney (Michael Whalen), whom we first see playing "Love's Old Sweet Song" on a trombone, is being pestered by Margie (Gloria Stuart), a bill collector. His roommate Snapper (Chick Chandler), a photographer, has been calling Helen for the time over and over, and hears her voice break as she gives the time. Johnny smells a story and investigates, with Margie following along to make sure she gets her 15 dollars. The chief suspect is gangster Dutch Moran, a casual friend of Barney's who was paying some of Peggy's bills and was seen leaving her building the day of the murder. But Johnny's uncle, the bank president, was also involved with Peggy, and one of Dutch's thugs was seen in the vicinity of Peggy's building. Will Barney figure things out before things get too hot for him? And will Margie forget about the 15 dollars and become his girlfriend? This is the first of three Roving Reporter B-mysteries with Michael Whalen as Barney. It's nothing special, playing out like any number of other B-films that mix mystery and romantic comedy. It’s fairly well-paced and the supporting cast is solid, but Whalen is underwhelming as Barney. Gloria Stuart is fine, though she doesn't appear in the other two entries. Supporting actors who stand out are Ruth Hussey as Peggy, Douglas Fowley as Dutch, Robert Kellard as Johnny, and Jane Darwell as Helen's supervisor. For all the attention given early on to Helen and her job, she has little to do with the proceedings, though the time call gimmick does wind up tripping up the killer. Pictured are Whalen, Chandler and Stuart. [YouTube]