Suicide wasn't quite painless for the elderly patriarch of a greedy family, especially when it appears to have been murder! Suspicions of foul play lead to a reunion of everybody who was there that night, and more "suicides" begin to occur. All the archetypes of this type of melodrama appear including a grumpy wheelchair bound aunt (sister of the first victim who may have motives of her own), greedy and grieving children, sinister servants, a noble nurse and an unwelcome detective whose presence leads to attempts on his own life. Clues are found in the lining of a toupee, the aunt isn't as frail as she pretends to be, and when somebody is caught with their hands in the till, all suspicions point to them.
A young Ann Sheridan plays the nurse of the dowager British character actress Elspeth Dugeon who had moved from bit parts the previous year to an unforgettable performance in the low-budget comedy thriller "Sh! The Octopus!". After years of being an extra, Sheridan had slowly risen to "B" leads but other than a few where she was paired with Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, the material she was given was genuinely weak. Dick Purcell plays her detective pal who obviously wants a bit more. Other than Elspeth Dugeon, the only really interesting performance here is the "Rin-Tin-Tin" type dog who has a fear of rifles and seems to know through his bark who the killer is. This genuinely ranks at the bottom of the rung of Warner Brothers' "B" unit, made difficult to tolerate even at an hour's running time because of the film's slow pacing and stage play like setting.
A young Ann Sheridan plays the nurse of the dowager British character actress Elspeth Dugeon who had moved from bit parts the previous year to an unforgettable performance in the low-budget comedy thriller "Sh! The Octopus!". After years of being an extra, Sheridan had slowly risen to "B" leads but other than a few where she was paired with Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney, the material she was given was genuinely weak. Dick Purcell plays her detective pal who obviously wants a bit more. Other than Elspeth Dugeon, the only really interesting performance here is the "Rin-Tin-Tin" type dog who has a fear of rifles and seems to know through his bark who the killer is. This genuinely ranks at the bottom of the rung of Warner Brothers' "B" unit, made difficult to tolerate even at an hour's running time because of the film's slow pacing and stage play like setting.