Murder Goes to College
Cast & Crew
Charles Riesner
Roscoe Karns
Marsha Hunt
Lynne Overman
Larry Crabbe
Astrid Allwyn
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
While at a college football game, unemployed private detective Henry "Hank" Hyer flirts with Greta Barry, wife of a mathematics professor and former showgirl. His reporter friend Sim Perkins, an alcoholic, warns him against associating with Greta because her husband Tom is involved in running a numbers racket with notorious racketeer Strike Belno. Hank persists in her acquaintance, however, and follows her to the Ringside Cafe, owned by her lover Strike. Strike leaves the cafe, and after Greta has an obligatory dance with Hank, she follows Strike. Hank and Sim follow them to the college, where after hearing a shot fired, they see Strike run away. Inside the college, Tom has been killed and the most obvious suspect is Strike. Hank interviews all the college professors, one of whom is involved with Nora, Tom's sister, and another, Paul Broderick, who is in love with Greta. Hank does not suspect Strike, and agrees to work for the gangster for $12,000. He makes a similar deal with the college, promising them that he will prove the killer is not from the college, thereby saving them from a scandal. Despite being followed by two unshakeable police detectives, Hank and Sim gather evidence. Finally, the murder weapon is found in the trash bin at the college, and Hank gathers all the suspects. He proves that Greta, who hated her husband, framed Strike by taking his gun from the club to the college, where Broderick, who wanted to take over the numbers racket, shot her husband. The police, who have been listening from the next room, arrest Greta and Broderick, and Strike for running a numbers racket, leaving Hank unpaid for all his work. His only consolation is that the beautiful Nora asks him to escort her home, choosing his company over Sim's.
Director
Charles Riesner
Cast
Roscoe Karns
Marsha Hunt
Lynne Overman
Larry Crabbe
Astrid Allwyn
Harvey Stephens
Purnell Pratt
Barlow Borland
Earle Foxe
Anthony Nace
Terry Ray
Nick Lukats
Jack Chapin
Charles Wilson
John Indrisano
James Blaine
Robert Perry
Ray Turner
James B. Carson
Tom O'grady
P. E. "tiny" Newland
Edward Emerson
Dale Armstrong
Dorothy Tennant
Jack Baxley
Ernie Alexander
Carl Mcbride
Firlie Banks
Walter Soderling
Sonny Bupp
Jack Cheatham
Charles Sherlock
Ron Wilson
Stan Blystone
Lelah Tyler
Crew
Johnny Burch
John Cope
Edward Dmytryk
Hans Dreier
A. E. Freudeman
Earl Hedrick
William Lackey
William Lebaron
Brian Marlow
Boris Morros
Henry Sharp
Eddie Welch
Phil G. Wisdom
Robert Wyler
Adolph Zukor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Letters and memos in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS library indicate that Joseph I. Breen, Director of the PCA, had two specific reservations about the film, namely the suggestion of an illicit affair between the characters Greta and Broderick, and "the constant drinking by Sim." Although in January 1937 Breen felt that the script was satisfactory, a viewing of the final print in February 1937 led Breen to reject the picture from the standpoint of the Production Code "on the grounds that it contains scenes showing unnecessary, excessive, and offensive drinking." A February 1937 memo indicates that the PCA came to an agreement with Paramount to delete several scenes involving liquor and drinking. John Indrisano, Mae West's bodyguard and a one-time boxer, made his screen debut as Belno's bodyguard. A scene in which Larry Crabbe shoots out his character's name in bullets was actually performed by the actor after director Charles Riesner bet him he could not do it, according to the pressbook. All references to the ending in the pressbook note that Sim, Roscoe Karns's character, gets the date with Nora, not Hank, Lynne Overman's character. Clayton W. Hopkins, a hearing impaired person, sat in with the director during filming in an effort to make this film understandable to hearing impaired people. The actors were required to speak distinctly enough to be understood by lip readers. A pre-release article in the Los Angeles Examiner notes that George Raft was originally intended for a role in this film, however, Raft left Paramount at this time, and Lloyd Nolan was expected to take his place in this film.
