Grissly's Millions
Cast & Crew
John English
Paul Kelly
Virginia Grey
Don Douglas
Elisabeth Risdon
Robert H. Barrat
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
As Grissly Morgan Palmor, the eccentric pioneer and founder of Palmor Springs, Colorado, lies on his deathbed, his grandchildren wait for his demise and look forward to living off his fortune. Grissly's granddaughter Maribelle, an aspiring actress, complains bitterly that her grandfather has never given a penny of his riches to his family. Though Grissly is outraged when he learns that his heirs plan to leave Palmor Springs with his money, he takes comfort in the knowledge that at least one of his granddaughters, Katherine Palmor Bentley, who has cared for him during his illness, is sincere. Because of this, Grissly revises his will and leaves all his money to Katherine. The revision is met with the approval of Grissly's fortune-hunting lawyer, Ellison Hayes, who attempts to profit from the change by asking Katherine to marry him. Ellison's proposal is interrupted, however, by the arrival of Katherine's estranged husband, Lewis Bentley, a gambler whom she left years earlier. Lewis reminds Katherine that as her husband he is entitled to half her inheritance, and when she tells him that her grandfather cut her out of his will, he vows to kill Grissly. Lewis attacks Grissly, after which Katherine discovers the dead bodies of both her husband and grandfather. Katherine assumes that Grissly died in the struggle, and when she tells Ellison about the incident, he warns her that she may be implicated in two murders if she goes to the police. Ellison suggests that they cover up the murders by secretly placing both bodies in Grissly's coffin. Though they believe that no one saw Lewis enter the Palmor estate, Katherine and Ellison soon discover that Joe Simmons, a police detective trailing Lewis, saw him enter. When Joe finds Lewis' hat, he is convinced that Katherine is shielding him, and demands that she tell him Lewis' whereabouts. Later, Ellison threatens to accuse Katherine of murdering her husband and grandfather unless she consents to marry him. Katherine refuses to marry Ellison, and when the Palmor family receives an anonymous letter claiming that Katherine poisoned Grissly, Ellison suggests an investigation. As soon as Katherine learns that Grissly's body will be exhumed to determine the exact cause of death, she reveals the truth about the murders to Joe, but Joe, who has fallen in love Katherine, sadly informs her that he cannot help her because she tried to cover up the killing. Ellison, fearing that he will be implicated in the crime if police find two bodies in Grissly's coffin, races to the graveyard before the investigators arrive, removes Lewis' body from the coffin and plants arsenic in Grissly's body. Soon after Grissly's coffin is unearthed, Katherine is attacked by an unseen assailant, who tries to push her over a cliff. Joe finds Katherine, and sets a trap for the person who tried to kill her. Though they suspect Ellison, Joe and Katherine are surprised to discover that the assailant is Leona Palmor, her aunt. After confessing that she killed Grissly to get at the inheritance money, which she planned to use to send Maribelle to Hollywood, Leona poisons Katherine and flees. The police chase Leona to the edge of a cliff, where she falls to her death. Katherine is revived before the poison kills her, and she and Joe plan to marry.
Director
John English
Cast
Paul Kelly
Virginia Grey
Don Douglas
Elisabeth Risdon
Robert H. Barrat
Clem Bevans
Francis Pierlot
Addison Richards
Eily Malyon
Adele Mara
Paul Fix
Byron Foulger
Joan Blair
Grady Sutton
Frank Jaquet
Will Wright
Louis Mason
Tom London
George "shug" Fisher
Olin Howlin
Crew
Muriel Roy Bolton
William Bradford
Gano Chittenden
Earl Crain Sr.
Joe Dill
Walter H. Goetz
Harry Keller
Howard Lydecker
Theodore Lydecker
George Milo
Joseph Novak
Adele Palmer
Armand Schaefer
Gordon C. Schaefer
Morton Scott
John Stransky Jr.
Richard Van Enger
Howard Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Old Grissly's Millions. A Lux Radio Theatre version of the story, starring Pat O'Brien and Lynn Bari, was broadcast on March 19, 1945.
