The set-up of this Z-grade murder mystery is intriguing as it shows reporter John Gallaudet showing up to interview business tycoon William McIntyre in the midst of family scandal and finding his corpse instead. Knocked on the head after finding the body, Gallaudet decides he will find the killer at all costs and begins to question everybody who had encounters with the deceased. This includes an estranged wife, a step-son and various business associates, all with motives for murder. Some moments of fast moving double talk and bits of clever dialog marks this higher in my ratings than the hundreds of others in this genre, but ultimately, it's a case of cardboard characters you've seen hundreds of times before, the epitome of what is referred as the "paint by number" method of developing a plot and resolving it. Some aspects of it are intriguing, such as how the culprit is revealed, and then the sudden locking up of various parties involve in the investigation inside a huge closet. Adding another little mystery on and some last minute intrigue marks this up higher as well, making it a bit more clever than the average programmer that wear out their welcome after only a few reels.
Review of Murder Is News
Murder Is News
(1937)
Your every day run of the mill murder mystery, no more or no less intriguing than the rest.
15 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers