Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case
Cast & Crew
Bernard Vorhaus
James Ellison
Virginia Gilmore
Franklin Pangborn
Paul Harvey
Lynne Carver
Film Details
Synopsis
Assistant District Attorney P. Cadwallader Jones is engaged to ambitious newspaper reporter Terry Parker, who, despite Jones's objections, will not agree to give up her career after their marriage. On the way to their wedding, Jones and Terry visit the office of Elliott Carter, the publisher of a society gossip magazine, and discover that he has been stabbed to death. Suspicion immediately falls upon Andrew Belmont, whom witnesses had seen arguing with Carter shortly before his death. Later, it is revealed that Belmont's wife Joyce, an actress, had been planning to run away with the wealthy Carter. Belmont is arrested for the crime, but Terry, covering the subsequent trial for her paper, steadfastly believes in his innocence. When Jones learns that Terry has tricked a bailiff into giving her the verdict in advance of its announcement, he arranges to have the wrong verdict delivered to her. The jury finds Belmont guilty, and Terry is fired for her inside "scoop" reporting that the accused would be set free. Terry and Jones make wedding plans, but after Terry discovers that Jones schemed to get her fired, she breaks off the engagement. Her belief in Belmont's innocence unshaken, Terry decides to investigate the case on her own, and visits a printer with inside knowledge of the crime. She soon discovers that he too has been murdered, but the body mysteriously disappears before Jones arrives with the police, leading everyone to believe that Terry has lied to get even with Jones. Next, Joyce, who is appearing in a musical comedy, is shot onstage with an arrow. Young Vincent Mackay, a chorus boy who performs trick archery in the show, is suspected, but is able to prove to Terry that he is innocent. Acting on a hunch and a clue involving indelible printer's ink, Terry is close to solving the murders when she and Vincent are kidnapped by the murderer, Carter's partner, Charley Towne, who killed all three victims as part of an elaborate blackmail plot. Jones chases Towne, who has locked Terry and Vincent in the back of an ambulance, and Terry and Jones end up careening down a steep hill on a stretcher. Towne is captured, and Terry finally consents to marry Jones.
Director
Bernard Vorhaus
Cast
James Ellison
Virginia Gilmore
Franklin Pangborn
Paul Harvey
Lynne Carver
Spencer Charters
Douglas Fowley
John Eldredge
Eddie Acuff
John Sheehan
Bradley Page
John Bleifer
Ken Lundy
Loren Raker
Elliott Sullivan
Emmett Vogan
Eddy Chandler
Ben Taggart
James C. Morton
Lois Collier
Polly Bailey
Joel Dean
Pat Gleason
Robert Wayne
James Blake
Harrison Greene
Francis Sayles
Morgan Brown
Frank Jaquet
Horace Carpenter
Eddie Kane
Georgia Backus
Ralph Mccullough
Harry Tyler
Charles Mcavoy
John "red" Burger
Ernest Whitman
Rex Lease
Si Jenks
Jane Allen
June Earle
Margie Mckay
Patsy Bedell
Wilma Holly
Millie Monroe
Midgie Dare
Lois James
Peggy Russell
Mildred Dixon
Adelaide Kaye
Lucille Sayre
Rita Dunn
Helen Mcgowan
Helen Seamon
Lynne Sterling
Mitzi Uehlein
Harry Depp
Blanche Payson
Betty Farrington
Crew
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Although the film was not viewed, onscreen credits were obtained from a negative print. The working titles for this film were Mr. District Attorney and the Carter Case and Behind Broadway Lights. News items published in Variety and Hollywood Reporter after the completion of shooting indicated that the film would be released as The Carter Case with the subtitle "Another Adventure of Mr. District Attorney," and is reviewed in Variety under this title. The opening credits indicate that Republic copyrighted the film in 1942; however, the film is not listed in the Catalog of Copyright Entries. A Hollywood Reporter news item dated October 17, 1941 reported that Marjorie Weaver would play the female lead in the film. This was the second feature in a series based on the Phillips H. Lord radio program Mr. District Attorney. For information on other films based on the radio series, please consult the Series Index and see the entry above for Mr. District Attorney.
