''Murder in the Music Hall'' is a 1946 American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by John English and starring

Vera Ralston Vera Ralston (born Věra Helena Hrubá; July 12, 1919 or 1920 or 1921 or 1923 February 9, 2003) was a Czech figure skater and actress. She later became a naturalized American citizen. She worked as an actress during the 1940s and 1950s. Earl ...

, William Marshall and

Helen Walker Helen Marion Walker (July 17, 1920 – March 10, 1968) was an American actress.Obituary ''Variety'', March 13, 1968, page 79. Biography 1920–1940: Early life Helen Marion Walker was born July 17, 1920 in Worcester, Massachusetts, the daughter ...

.McCarty p.464 The film involves a murder in

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

with

The Rockettes The Rockettes are an American precision dance company. Founded 1925 in St. Louis, they have, since , performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Until 2015, they also had a touring company. They are best known for starring in the Rad ...

as suspects. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Russell Kimball. It was re-released in 1951.

Plot

Lila Laughton is a Rockette figure skater at Radio City Music Hall in New York. She's dating orchestra conductor Don Jordan. Her ex-flame, producer Carl Lang, gets out of jail and visits her. Lang plays a song he wrote just for Lila, and demands that she appear in his new show or he'll tell the world that she poisoned her ex-lover Douglas five years ago. Frightened, Lila tells fellow performers Diane and Millicent and understudy Gracie about Lang's return. They sympathize, as all of them worked for him before. When Lila and Don return to Lang's apartment to retrieve Lila's purse, they find him dead and a woman's glove on the floor. Lila and Don show the glove to the other girls, and Diane (who also dated Douglas) accuses Lila of murder. It turns out the glove belongs to Rita Morgan, wife of a local newspaper columnist. Don tells Rita that he has her glove, and she meets with Don and Lila. Rita, it turns out, is a former chorus girl who also worked for Carl and was being blackmailed by him. Rita says a blind man named Mr. Winters can exonerate her. Don and Lila find Winter, but quickly discover he's an imposter. The real Winters says he was paid by a man, revealed to be Rita's husband George, to stay away from the apartment. George admits he entered the apartment disguised as Winters to steal the incriminating letters Lang had, but cannot identify the woman he saw running out. Detective Wilson, who has been investigating the case, tells everyone to meet at the music hall. Lila overhears someone humming the song Carl Lang had composed, and realizes only the murderer would know the tune. Gracie is exposed as the killer: She was hiding in Lang's apartment when Lang and Lila arrived. She killed Lang in a jealous rage when she overheard him saying he loved Lila.

Cast

as Lila Laughton (as Vera Hruba Ralston) * William Marshall as Don Jordan *

as Millicent *

Nancy Kelly Nancy Kelly (March 25, 1921 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress in film, theater and television. A child actress and model, she was a repertory cast member of CBS Radio's ''The March of Time'' and appeared in several films in the late 1 ...

as Mrs. Rita Morgan *

William Gargan William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

as Inspector Wilson *

Ann Rutherford Therese Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1917 – June 11, 2012) was a Canadian-born American actress in film, radio, and television. She had a long career starring and co-starring in films, playing Polly Benedict during the 1930s and 1940s in the An ...

as Gracie *

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Curtin ...

as Diane *

Jerome Cowan Jerome Palmer Cowan (October 6, 1897 – January 24, 1972) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early years Cowan was born in New York City, the son of William Cowan, a confectioner of Scottish descent, and Julia Cowan, née Palm ...

as George Morgan *Edward Norris as Carl Lang *

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, ba ...

as Hobarth *

Frank Orth Frank Orth (February 21, 1880 – March 17, 1962) was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series '' Boston Blackie''. Career By 1897, Ort ...

as Henderson, the Stage Manager *

Jack La Rue Jack La Rue (born Gaspare Biondolillo; May 3, 1902 – January 11, 1984) was an American film and stage actor. Early years The son of Sicilian immigrants Pasquale and Concetta Biondolillo, La Rue was born in New York City. His father sailed to ...

as Bruce Wilton *James Craven as Mr. Winters

References

Bibliography

* McCarty, Clifford. ''Film Composers in America: A Filmography, 1911-1970''. Oxford University Press, 2000.

External links

* 1946 films Films directed by John English 1946 musical films Radio City Music Hall Republic Pictures films 1946 mystery films American mystery films American black-and-white films American musical films Films set in Manhattan 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{Musical-film-stub