Haunted House
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Robert Mcgowan
Marcia Mae Jones
Jackie Moran
George Cleveland
Christian Rub
Henry Hall
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In the small town of Brownsville, farmhand Olaf Jentsen is being tried for the murder of his employer, Mary Blake, because her money was found in his room. Jimmie Atkins, an apprentice at the Brownsville Bugle , writes an editorial in which he proclaims Olaf's innocence, against the wishes of the paper's publisher, Albert Henshaw. Henshaw's niece, Mildred, then arrives for a summer vacation, and she and Jimmie investigate the murder. Believing that Mary Blake's sole heir, her nephew Heap, who runs a gas station, has no alibi for the night of the murder, Jimmie lures Heap to his grandmother's house to get him to confess, but Grandma Atkins remembers Heap brought her kerosene on the night of the murder. Henshaw fires Jimmie for a few days to teach him a lesson, although Mildred defends Jimmie to her uncle. Attorney Cy Burton then sends Jimmie on an errand, and Jimmie recognizes Burton's note paper as the same paper on which Olaf's alibi was written. Mildred and Jimmie talk to Olaf and deduce that on the night of the murder, Burton wrote a note to Olaf to keep him away from the farm so Burton could kill Mrs. Blake and hide the money in Olaf's room. Olaf reveals that before her death, Mrs. Blake had been afraid. Although it was assumed she was broke, she had kept a record of considerable savings, which were stored in a hidden iron box. Jimmie and Mildred go secretly to the deserted farmhouse and find the account book, which contains a record of $40,000 in savings and a stanza of verse that is a clue to the strong box's whereabouts. They then find a record of Burton's debt to Mrs. Blake for $11,000 and a reference to file "A" in "C. B.'s office." Jimmie and Mildred ransack Burton's office and find the Blake estate file just as Burton enters. When Mildred accuses Burton of murder, he shows her an envelope containing receipts for $11,000 signed by Mrs. Blake. Henshaw, furious that the youngsters have again accused an innocent man of murder, locks Mildred in her room. She and Jimmie sneak out to the farmhouse in a rain storm to retrieve the money themselves. As they search, Burton enters, and, while hiding, they watch him find the money. Burton's clerk, Simkins, who has discovered that Burton's receipts are forgeries, then arrives carrying a gun, and accuses Blake of having pilfered half of Mrs. Blake's income for ten years. After Burton hits Simkins, Jimmie intervenes just as Henshaw arrives with the sheriff, who arrests Burton. The Bugle then runs a series of articles written by Jimmie, and Mildred gives a dance in his honor.
Director
Robert Mcgowan
Cast
Marcia Mae Jones
Jackie Moran
George Cleveland
Christian Rub
Henry Hall
John St. Polis
Clarence Wilson
Mary Carr
Jessie Arnold
Hooper Atchley
Marcelle Ray
Buddy Swan
Crew
Charles J. Bigelow
Monty Collins
Glenn Cook
Scott R. Dunlap
E. R. Hickson
Edward Kay
William T. Lackey
Jack K. Leonard
Harry Neumann
Dorothy Reid
Russell Schoengarth
Karl Zint
Film Details
Technical Specs
