THE PREVIEW MURDER MYSTERY (1936)

At World Attractions movie studio, star Neil Du Beck is finishing filming a bullfight musical, Song of the Toreador, a remake of a silent film that starred Edwin Strange, a popular silent actor who died mysteriously before the arrival of sound. Neil's leading lady is Claire Woodward, who was married to Strange but is now married to the director, E Gordon Smith. Neil is a little on edge as he's been getting notes warning him that he won't live to see the premiere of his movie. The studio's PR man, Johnny Morgan, is called in to investigate on the premise that the notes are part of a publicity stunt, but nothing turns up, except that the press gets wind of it and breaks the story on the night of the film's sneak preview. The film seems well received, but as the audience applauds, Neil is found dead in his seat from poison put in his bicarbonate. A few days later, Claire, shooting another film, is almost killed when she is shot at from a blank gun that was loaded with real bullets, and another threatening note is found. The police lock down the studio to investigate while allowing filming on various projects to continue. Meanwhile, Johnny and his secretary Peggy, a horoscope fan and potential girlfriend, snoop around on their own. They set up a trap that snaps a picture in the dark of someone who looks like the late Edwin Strange—has the actor returned from the grave, or is someone masquerading as him to cause havoc?

A few months ago, Turner Classic Movies paid tribute to B-movies of the classic era, and they showed this film from the Paramount library that I'd never heard of, but I'm glad I watched. The hook behind the plot is that we get to see life inside the studio gates, and though the premise of a multi-day lockdown is a bit far-fetched, it works. Reginald Denny (Johnny) was a very busy character actor at the bigger studios (Rebecca, the original Of Human Bondage, the 1936 Romeo and Juliet) but was just as busy in B-films; he played occasional leads but is best known to B-buffs as Algy, Bulldog Drummond's sidekick in a series of movies. Frances Drake (Peggy) had a relatively short career, retiring in the early 1940s, best known to me as the damsel in distress at the hands of Peter Lorre in Mad Love. They're supposed to be the leads here, but they wind up overshadowed by supporting actors such as Rod La Roque (Neil), Gail Patrick (Claire), Ian Keith (Smith), and George Barbier (a studio head). Part of this is due to the fact that Johnny and Peggy don't take center stage until almost a third of the way into the movie, and part of it is due to the writing—as characters, the leads just aren't terribly interesting. We see brief glimpses into a number of movies being shot, the most interesting being what looks like a Caligari-like horror movie with Henry Brandon (pictured) as a character called The Bat Man, a few years before the Batman superhero we all know was created. The actor Charlie Ruggles appears as himself very briefly. This is no neglected gem of mystery or suspense, but it works nicely as a fun novelty. [TCM]