The Crime Nobody Saw
Cast & Crew
Charles Barton
Lew Ayres
Ruth Coleman
Eugene Pallette
Benny Baker
Vivienne Osborne
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Three playwrights, Nick Milburn, Horace Dryden and Babe, attempt to come up with a winning idea for a play that they have not yet written, but have already been paid for. In the apartment across the hall, Suzanne Duval tells the maid, Ambrosia, she is going to White Plains but will leave her dog Toto behind with her husband. Later that evening, Mr. Duval stumbles into the writers' apartment in a drunken stupor and eventually collapses on their couch, dropping a billfold containing $15,000. After finding a black book containing the names and addresses of prominent men in town, Nick guesses that Duval is a blackmailer. To determine if this is true, Nick impersonates a police officer and calls all the people in the black book, tells them Duval is dead and asks for a deposition. Nick hopes to get a good story out of this. One man he calls, Robert Mallory, is shaken up by the news and confesses to his daughter Kay that he paid Duval $15,000. He is old and unwell, so Kay goes to the apartment in his place. When she arrives, she recognizes Dr. Brookes, Duval's physician. As each respondent arrives, the writers consult with them in private. Horace becomes uncomfortable about impersonating a policeman, and he and Nick and Babe argue out in the hall. While they are out, Duval is stabbed to death as he lies on the couch. Babe investigates on his own and discovers that Duval has a disguise on and is actually Suzanne. After Babe is attacked when the lights go out, they all discover that the body has disappeared, but later find it in the piano in Suzanne's apartment. Babe speculates that Suzanne would flirt with a man and then impersonate her own husband to blackmail her lovers. Ambrosia reveals that although she never saw a Mr. Duval, she frequently saw Suzanne's boyfriend, who previously took the icepick with which "Duval" was killed when Suzanne threatened to kill herself with it. Ambrosia identifies the man as Brookes, who makes his escape after Tim Harrigan, a policeman friend of the writers, lets him out thinking they are merely rehearsing a play. More police arrive, however, and arrest Brookes. Nick, Babe and Horace begin to write the story, promising Ambrosia a part in the play.
Director
Charles Barton
Cast
Lew Ayres
Ruth Coleman
Eugene Pallette
Benny Baker
Vivienne Osborne
Colin Tapley
Howard C. Hickman
Robert E. O'connor
Jed Prouty
Hattie Mcdaniel
Ferdinand Gottschalk
Terry Ray
Ivan Miller
Geraldine Hall
Stanhope Wheatcroft
Frank O'connor
Crew
John Burch
Hans Dreier
George Dutton
Harry Fischbeck
A. E. Freudeman
Earl Hedrick
James Hogan
Don Johnson
William Lebaron
Bertram Millhauser
Boris Morros
Robert North
James Smith
Adolph Zukor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was Danger, Men Working. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, director James Hogan filled-in for Charles Barton while he was ill. Various reviews listed Lew Ayres character as "Nicholas Carter," Benny Baker's character as "Horace Smith," and Robert Emmet O'Connor's character as "Tim Burke." These credits conflict with credits on the screen, however.
