Claude Gillingwater, everyone's favorite meanie, is found dead in an armoire during a costume party. Hurrah! Inspector John Wray shows up and questions everyone at the house, and the usual suspects crop up, including his grand daughter, Shirley Grey, William Bakewell, whom everyone thinks she's engaged to, although they deny it... oh, the usual suspects in this sort of movie. Happily, mystery writer Charles Starrett is on hand, to help and hinder the police and conduct his own investigation on the side.
I was impressed by the actors outside their usual range -- Starrett is unexpectedly youthful and charming for anyone used to his Durango Kid westerns, and Wray is plebeian and efficient. Aggie Herring has a fine role as the housekeeper, and there are two solutions to the mystery!
It's a cheaply shot movie, directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by ever-hopeful Gower Gulch company Chesterfield. this was the sort of work he excelled in, getting good performances and as much out of the story as possible on a tiny budget. All too soon, this happy faculty would take him to that most luxurious of studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where this was a rare commodity.
I was impressed by the actors outside their usual range -- Starrett is unexpectedly youthful and charming for anyone used to his Durango Kid westerns, and Wray is plebeian and efficient. Aggie Herring has a fine role as the housekeeper, and there are two solutions to the mystery!
It's a cheaply shot movie, directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by ever-hopeful Gower Gulch company Chesterfield. this was the sort of work he excelled in, getting good performances and as much out of the story as possible on a tiny budget. All too soon, this happy faculty would take him to that most luxurious of studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where this was a rare commodity.