Mystery in Swing
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Arthur Dreifuss
Monte Hawley
Marguerite Whitten
Tommie Moore
Edward Thompson
Buck Woods
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When Prince Ellis, a noted trumpet player, signs a Hollywood contract, reporter Biff Boyd is assigned to interview him at the Penguin Club. Biff's girl friend, Linda Carroll, a newspaper secretary, joins him. Linda's younger sister Mae is in love with Prince, and their father, John Carroll, writes music for him. Although John and Linda advise Mae that Prince is a lothario who is not worthy of her, she refuses to believe them. While Mae adores her autographed photo of Prince, Prince's wife Cleo smashes hers. At the Penguin, Biff and Linda notice that Prince is giving Maxine Ray the runaround. Maxine was hired as a lead singer at the club by Chet Wallace, whom she spurned in favor of Prince. Instead of getting the interview, Biff and Linda ask Prince and Maxine to join them as they get drunk, and Biff and Prince get into a fight. The next day, Prince is visited by Mae, for whom he promises to send as soon as his divorce comes through; Cleo, who demands her alimony; and John, who warns Prince that he will kill him if he continues to see Mae. When Maxine arrives, Prince puts his trumpet to his mouth to play, but suddenly collapses and dies. A knife then passes before Maxine's face with a note attached, which warns her not to reveal the killer. Biff and Linda arrive at the apartment in time to find the body and see Maxine leaving. She is picked up for questioning after Biff telephones Captain Hall. It is soon determined that Prince died from poison placed on the mouthpiece of his trumpet. Biff gathers all the suspects at the Penguin, where Maxine collapses at the end of a song from a knife wound and dies. Biff discovers a clue when he learns that the sister of Buck Bedford, Prince's servant, killed herself following a love affair with Prince. Biff finds Buck unconscious in his apartment, but Buck escapes when the foolish Sergeant Slim, who was supposed to guard him, falls asleep during a card game. When Biff, Linda and the police enter Prince's apartment, they are shot at, and the culprit escapes, leaving a song sheet signed that day by John. Hall is ready to charge John, but Biff, who does not believe that John is the murderer, is given forty-eight hours to prove his innocence. After learning that Prince left no will, Biff assembles the suspects once again and has Lawyer Jones read a fake will in which one possession is left to each of his friends. Chet, who inherits Prince's trumpet, gives himself away as the murderer when he refuses to play it because of the poison. Chet then admits that he killed Maxine too because she threatened to expose him. The mystery solved, Biff and Linda plan to marry.
Director
Arthur Dreifuss
Cast
Monte Hawley
Marguerite Whitten
Tommie Moore
Edward Thompson
Buck Woods
Jess Lee Brooks
Josephine Edwards
Sybil Lewis
Robert Webb
Alfred Grant
Thomas Southern
Halley Harding
Leonard Christmas
Earl Morris
John Lester Johnson
F. E. Miller
The Four Toppers
Ceepee Johnson And His Orchestra
Charles Andrews
Crew
"the California Eagle"
Rudolph Brent
Robert Crandall
Ross Di Maggio
Louis Diage
Arthur Dreifuss
Glen Glenn
Arthur Hoerl
Ceepee Johnson
Ceepee Johnson And His Orchestra
Ray Mercer
F. E. Miller
Ruth
Stearns
Mack Stengler
The Four Toppers
William Werckenthien
William Werckenthien
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Onscreen credits indicate the picture was copyrighted by Aetna Film Corp. in 1940, but no registration has been found. Some contemporary sources erroneously list the name of "Prince Ellis'" wife as "Maxine" and spell the actress' last name as "Lewis" rather than "Louis." Some contemporary sources also list Josephine Edwards as Joan Edwards, and indicate that the picture was roadshown in 900 theaters on a state rights basis.
