By Glenn Erickson
The Roadhouse Murder
Brief Synopsis
Reporter has bright idea of claiming to be a murderer and writing his own expose.
Cast & Crew
Read More
J. Walter Ruben
Director
Dorothy Jordan
Mary Agnew
Eric Linden
Charles "Chick" Brian
Rosco Ates
Edmund Joyce
Purnell Pratt
Inspector William Agnew
Bruce Cabot
Fred Dykes
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Adaptation
Release Date
May
6,
1932
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 28 Apr 1932
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel L'Épouvante by Maurice Level (Paris, 1908) and the play Santa Kutya ( Lame Dog Inn ) by László Bus-Fekete (Budapest, ca. 26 Oct 1928).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 13m
Sound
Mono (RCA Photophone System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Synopsis
After New York cub reporter Charles "Chick" Brian is ridiculed by his editor for submitting an inaccurate story, he seeks solace with his girl friend, Mary Agnew. Because Mary's father, a police inspector, strongly disapproves of Chick, Mary is forced to meet secretly with the reporter. While driving in the country with Mary, Chick reveals his frustrations over his floundering career and his inability to provide amply for a wife. As they are driving home, a sudden rain storm floods the road and grounds Chick's convertible. Chick and Mary find refuge at the Lame Dog Inn, a delapidated roadhouse whose only occupants are Charles Spengler, an old porter, and one guest, Emil Brugger. While Chick and Mary are drying off, they hear a gunshot and a bumping noise in the room above them. After finding Spengler shot to death in the hallway, Chick and Mary burst into Brugger's room, interrupting the escape of thieves Fred Dykes and Louise Rand. At Louise's insistence, Fred resists killing the young couple and leaves through the window. As Chick examines Brugger's strangled corpse, Mary finds Louise's pocketbook with her name and address in it. Inspired by the scene, Chick tells Mary that he is going to launch his newspaper career by framing himself as the killer, then revealing the purse at the appropriate dramatic moment. Although reluctant, Mary helps Chick to plant evidence that will implicate him the crime and agrees to keep Louise's purse. As hoped, Agnew and his men connect Chick to the physical evidence found at the roadhouse and instigate a manhunt to find him. By mailing to his editor stories that he calls "The Diary of a Hunted Man," the fugitive Chick becomes an overnight newspaper celebrity. Eventually Chick shows up at Mary's home and is arrested by Agnew. During a rigorous interrogation, Agnew becomes convinced that Chick is innocent but is unable to extract the facts from him. At his trial, Chick cockily maintains his innocence and declares to the press that he will be presenting evidence that will clear him of all suspicion. When Fred, who has identified Mary from a newspaper photograph, reads Chick's announcement, he follows Mary to the courthouse and snatches Louise's purse from her. Without the purse, Chick is forced to plead for mercy, but in spite of Mary's self-sacrificing admission that she was with him at the inn, he is found guilty. After Mary accuses her father of causing Chick's downfall, Inspector Agnew receives a telephone tip from a fearful Louise. To protect herself, Louise lures Fred to her apartment and identifies him to the police, who then shoot him as he tries to escape. Finally free, a wiser Chick happily embraces Mary.
Director
J. Walter Ruben
Director
Cast
Dorothy Jordan
Mary Agnew
Eric Linden
Charles "Chick" Brian
Rosco Ates
Edmund Joyce
Purnell Pratt
Inspector William Agnew
Bruce Cabot
Fred Dykes
Phyllis Clare
Louise Rand
Gustav Von Seyffertitz
Charles Spengler
Roscoe Karns
Jeff Dale
William Morris
Frank Sheridan
District Attorney
Carl Gerard
Robert Warwick
Judge
Crew
Film Details
Genre
Suspense/Mystery
Adaptation
Release Date
May
6,
1932
Premiere Information
New York opening: week of 28 Apr 1932
Production Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel L'Épouvante by Maurice Level (Paris, 1908) and the play Santa Kutya ( Lame Dog Inn ) by László Bus-Fekete (Budapest, ca. 26 Oct 1928).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 13m
Sound
Mono (RCA Photophone System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Articles
The Roadhouse Murder -
When David O. Selznick came to RKO the quality of the studio's output improved almost immediately. Extending his career into the talkie era, writer-director J. Walter Ruben scored with The Roadhouse Murder (1932), a murder tale with a clever twist. Reporter Chick Brian (Eric Linden) and his girlfriend Mary (Dorothy Jordan) are stuck overnight at a deserted roadhouse called The Lame Dog Inn. Witnessing a murder, they collect the evidence to incriminate the killer, but instead of calling the cops, Chick hatches a plan to advance his career. He frames himself as a suspect and then hides out, providing his editor with a hot front page circulation-builder called 'Diary of a Hunted Man.' The highly unethical ruse wins Chick his desired status as an instant celebrity but when he goes to trial, the real killer steals the evidence Mary has saved to exonerate him. The jury doesn't believe Mary's claim that it was all a hoax. What resembles an earlier version of Fritz Lang's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) is an escapist take on the theme of a reporter gaming the system, an idea that would later become searing social criticism in Cy Endfield's cynical The Underworld Story (1950) and Billy Wilder's caustic Ace in the Hole (1951). Star Eric Linden would mainly play handsome college boys, while leading lady Dorothy Jordan soon married RKO executive Merian C. Cooper. Making his credited film debut as the villain is Bruce Cabot, whose rugged good looks won him a leading role in the upcoming King Kong.
By Glenn Erickson
By Glenn Erickson
The Roadhouse Murder -
When David O. Selznick came to RKO the quality of the studio's output improved almost immediately. Extending his career into the talkie era, writer-director J. Walter Ruben scored with The Roadhouse Murder (1932), a murder tale with a clever twist. Reporter Chick Brian (Eric Linden) and his girlfriend Mary (Dorothy Jordan) are stuck overnight at a deserted roadhouse called The Lame Dog Inn. Witnessing a murder, they collect the evidence to incriminate the killer, but instead of calling the cops, Chick hatches a plan to advance his career. He frames himself as a suspect and then hides out, providing his editor with a hot front page circulation-builder called 'Diary of a Hunted Man.' The highly unethical ruse wins Chick his desired status as an instant celebrity but when he goes to trial, the real killer steals the evidence Mary has saved to exonerate him. The jury doesn't believe Mary's claim that it was all a hoax. What resembles an earlier version of Fritz Lang's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) is an escapist take on the theme of a reporter gaming the system, an idea that would later become searing social criticism in Cy Endfield's cynical The Underworld Story (1950) and Billy Wilder's caustic Ace in the Hole (1951). Star Eric Linden would mainly play handsome college boys, while leading lady Dorothy Jordan soon married RKO executive Merian C. Cooper. Making his credited film debut as the villain is Bruce Cabot, whose rugged good looks won him a leading role in the upcoming King Kong.
By Glenn Erickson
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
László Bus-Fekete's play was based on Maurice Level's novel. Copyright records credit both works as sources for this film. RKO borrowed Dorothy Jordan from M-G-M for the production. Film Daily news items add David Landau, Creighton Chaney, Julie Haydon, Jacques de Bujac, Alfred James, Charles Quigley, Sammy Fuller, Shirley Chambers and William Halligan to the cast, but their participation in the final film has not been confirmed. According to an RKO studio memorandum, this picture cost $117,713 to produce and netted a profit of $21,000.
