Lyle Talbot (Dr Allen Carrick), Marguerite Churchill (Sally Keating), Claire Dodd (Janice Thatcher), John Eldredge (District Attorney Tweed), Bill Elliott (Dave Thatcher), Virginia Brissac (Adela Thatcher), William B. Davidson (Bayard Thatcher), Joseph Crehan (Hilary Thatcher), Florence Fair (Evelyn Thatcher), Stuart Holmes (Higby, the butler), Lottie Williams (Emeline), Mary Treen (Florrie), Henry Otho (Sheriff Whiting), Milton Kibbee (cab driver), Tom McGuire (Speers, the druggist).
Director: FRANK McDONALD. Screenplay: Roy Chanslor, Luci Ward. Based on the 1932 novel by Mignon G. Eberhart. Photography: Arthur L. Todd. Film editor: Louis Hesse. Art director: Hugh Reticker. Costumes designed by Orry-Kelly. Music: Bernhard Kaun. Music director: Leo F. Forbstein. Dialogue director: Irving Rapper. Assistant director: Wilbur McGaugh. Producer: Bryan Foy.
Copyright 15 June 1936 by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Palace: 12 June 1936. Australian release: 5 August 1936. 7 reels. 60 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: The black sheep of the Thatcher family is murdered, but all likely suspects have cast-iron alibis.
NOTES: Number three of the six-picture "Nurse Keating" series, all but the fourth released by Warner Bros from 1935 through 1938.
COMMENT: An odd series in that throughout its brief run of six pictures, the heroine was enacted by no less than five different actresses. Aline MacMahon played the nurse in the first entry, While the Patient Slept (1935); Kay Linaker essayed the role in the second, The Murder of Dr Harrigan (1936); Jane Darwell played Nurse Keating in the fourth, The Great Hospital Mystery (1937), for 20th Century-Fox; Anne Sheridan was cast in the fifth and sixth, The Patient in Room 18 and Mystery House (both 1938).
Although Marguerite Churchill is probably the least interesting of the five actresses involved, and Lyle Talbot is merely okay as the hero (he has little to do anyway), this third entry is a superior one. William B. Davidson has a sizable role for once and Bill Elliott gives a really fine performance in a character role. He obviously wasted his talent in the "Wild Bill" westerns, but nonetheless who wants to be a character actor when they can make the grade as a star? Here's a rare opportunity to see what Elliott could do with a really meaty role.
Other players are not as well served by the script, but all contribute to the success of the mystery which is not only well plotted, but fairly laid out so that we all of us have an equal chance to make the right deductions.
Unlike Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers did not always spend a great deal of money on their "B" product. If you are looking for rich production values, you'll not find them on display here. Nonetheless, the décor, the photography and other credits do serve the picture well enough.
Director: FRANK McDONALD. Screenplay: Roy Chanslor, Luci Ward. Based on the 1932 novel by Mignon G. Eberhart. Photography: Arthur L. Todd. Film editor: Louis Hesse. Art director: Hugh Reticker. Costumes designed by Orry-Kelly. Music: Bernhard Kaun. Music director: Leo F. Forbstein. Dialogue director: Irving Rapper. Assistant director: Wilbur McGaugh. Producer: Bryan Foy.
Copyright 15 June 1936 by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Palace: 12 June 1936. Australian release: 5 August 1936. 7 reels. 60 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: The black sheep of the Thatcher family is murdered, but all likely suspects have cast-iron alibis.
NOTES: Number three of the six-picture "Nurse Keating" series, all but the fourth released by Warner Bros from 1935 through 1938.
COMMENT: An odd series in that throughout its brief run of six pictures, the heroine was enacted by no less than five different actresses. Aline MacMahon played the nurse in the first entry, While the Patient Slept (1935); Kay Linaker essayed the role in the second, The Murder of Dr Harrigan (1936); Jane Darwell played Nurse Keating in the fourth, The Great Hospital Mystery (1937), for 20th Century-Fox; Anne Sheridan was cast in the fifth and sixth, The Patient in Room 18 and Mystery House (both 1938).
Although Marguerite Churchill is probably the least interesting of the five actresses involved, and Lyle Talbot is merely okay as the hero (he has little to do anyway), this third entry is a superior one. William B. Davidson has a sizable role for once and Bill Elliott gives a really fine performance in a character role. He obviously wasted his talent in the "Wild Bill" westerns, but nonetheless who wants to be a character actor when they can make the grade as a star? Here's a rare opportunity to see what Elliott could do with a really meaty role.
Other players are not as well served by the script, but all contribute to the success of the mystery which is not only well plotted, but fairly laid out so that we all of us have an equal chance to make the right deductions.
Unlike Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers did not always spend a great deal of money on their "B" product. If you are looking for rich production values, you'll not find them on display here. Nonetheless, the décor, the photography and other credits do serve the picture well enough.