''The Crime of Helen Stanley'' is a 1934 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
crime film directed by
D. Ross Lederman and starring
Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and ...
,
Shirley Grey
Shirley Grey (born Agnes Zetterstrand; April 11, 1902 – August 12, 1981) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1930 and 1935.
Biography
Born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, Grey was the daughter of E. A Zetterstr ...
and
Gail Patrick
Gail Patrick (born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, June 20, 1911 – July 6, 1980) was an American film actress and television producer. Often cast as the bad girl or the other woman, she appeared in more than 60 feature films between 1932 an ...
.
The film is also known as ''Murder in the Studio''.
It was the third in a series of four films featuring Bellamy as
Inspector Trent of the
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
following on from ''
Before Midnight
''Before Midnight'' is a 2013 American romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The sequel to ''Before Sunrise'' (1995) and ''Before Sunset'' (2004), it is the third instal ...
'' and ''
One Is Guilty''. The final film ''
Girl in Danger'' in the sequence was released later in the year.
Plot
Inspector Trent (Bellamy) investigates the death of film star Helen Stanley (Patrick) on the set. Another actor in the film, Wallach (Stephen Chase, uncredited) believes he has killed Stanley after he put a live bullet into a prop gun when he "shot" her, and commits suicide after confessing. However the live bullet was still in Wallach's gun.
Other suspects are the cameraman, Stanley's lover Lee Davis (Richmond), her sister, Betty Lane (Grey), who is having an affair with Davis. Also in the mix are Stanley's business manager, George Noel (Page) who owed her $60,000, the director Gibson (Prival) who Stanley knew was an illegal alien, and Stanley's bodyguard, Karl Williams (Sherman), who was blackmailing her. Trent solves the mystery by reenacting the murder, where the true killer is revealed.
Cast
*
Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and ...
as Inspector Steve Trent
*
Shirley Grey
Shirley Grey (born Agnes Zetterstrand; April 11, 1902 – August 12, 1981) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1930 and 1935.
Biography
Born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, Grey was the daughter of E. A Zetterstr ...
as Betty Lane
*
Gail Patrick
Gail Patrick (born Margaret LaVelle Fitzpatrick, June 20, 1911 – July 6, 1980) was an American film actress and television producer. Often cast as the bad girl or the other woman, she appeared in more than 60 feature films between 1932 an ...
as Helen Stanley
*
Kane Richmond
Kane Richmond (born Frederick William Bowditch, December 23, 1906 – March 22, 1973) was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s, mostly appearing in cliffhangers and serials. He is best known today for his portrayal of the character L ...
as Lee Davis
*
Bradley Page as George T. Noel
*
Vincent Sherman
Vincent Sherman (born Abraham Orovitz, July 16, 1906 – June 18, 2006) was an American director and actor who worked in Hollywood. His movies include ''Mr. Skeffington'' (1944), ''Nora Prentiss'' (1947), and '' The Young Philadelphians'' (1959). ...
as Karl Williams
*
Phillip Trent
Phillip Trent (October 16, 1907, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – January 24, 2001, Englewood, New Jersey) was an American stage and film actor. He began his career on Broadway and starred in nine stage productions. He appeared in numerous films dur ...
as Larry King (as Clifford Jones)
*
Lucien Prival
Lucien Prival (July 14, 1901 – June 3, 1994) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1926 and 1953.
Born in New York City, Prival was the son of a French mother and a Russian father. From 1912-1919 he lived w ...
as Gibson
*
Ward Bond as Jack Baker
References
Bibliography
* Backer, Ron. ''Mystery Movie Series of 1930s Hollywood''. McFarland, 2012.
External links
*
1934 films
1934 crime films
American crime films
1930s English-language films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by D. Ross Lederman
Columbia Pictures films
1930s American films
{{1930s-crime-film-stub