''The Perfect Clue'' is a 1935 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

produced by

Larry Darmour Lawrence J. Darmour (1895–1942) was an American film producer, operator of Larry Darmour Productions from 1927, and a significant figure in Hollywood's Poverty Row. Career Darmour was born in Flushing, Queens. In September 1927 he released t ...

for

Majestic Pictures Majestic Pictures was an American film production and distribution company active during the 1930s. Under the control of Larry Darmour the company specialized in low-budget production, and was one of the more stable Poverty Row outfits during the p ...

, directed by

Robert G. Vignola Robert G. Vignola (born Rocco Giuseppe Vignola, August 7, 1882 – October 25, 1953) was an Italian-American actor, screenwriter, and film director. A former stage actor, he appeared in many motion pictures produced by Kalem Company and later mov ...

and starring

David Manners David Joseph Manners (born Rauff de Ryther Duan Acklom; April 30, 1900 – December 23, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor who plays John Harker in Tod Browning's 1931 horror classic '' Dracula'', which stars Bela Lugosi in the title role.Pac ...

Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

and

Betty Blythe Betty Blythe (born Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter; September 1, 1893 – April 7, 1972) was an American actress best known for her dramatic roles in exotic silent films such as ''The Queen of Sheba'' (1921). She appeared in 63 silent films and 56 t ...

. The screenplay was written by Albert DeMond based on the story ''Lawless Honeymoon'' by Lolita Ann Westman. The film was released on March 13, 1935.

Plot

Jerome Stewart (William P. Carleton) throws an elegant dinner party to announce his engagement to Ursula Chesebrough (Betty Blythe), but the engagement comes as a total surprise to his daughter, Mona (Dorothy Libaire), who doesn't like Ursula and takes it badly. Longtime admirer and inebriate Ronnie Van Zandt (Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher) convinces her to run away and elope with him, although she does not love him. The two board the train for Buffalo but Mona soon changes her mind and gets off the train at a

whistle stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...

and attempts to hire a car from Johnny Rourke to drive her to Albany, but instead employs David Mannering (David Manners) as he is coming out of a café. He drives her to a remote area and robs her, leaving her behind. Later he comes back for Mona, and agrees to drive her to where she wants to go as Mona feigns a sprained ankle for sympathy. The car gets stuck in the mud and they are forced to spend the night in the car until David can find someone to pull them out in the morning. Somewhat infatuated with David by now, Mona wants to know more about him, he tells her that he got out of prison a month prior, and that he had been a bank teller and had been accused of stealing money, although he claims that he didn't do it. Stewart and Ronnie track Mona to the whistle stop but soon discover that Rourke was not hired by Mona, and they then hire him to drive them to Albany. Meanwhile, Mona is frightened by a bull, causing her to run from it and David discovers her ruse. Once they get to Albany, David plans to see a man by the name of Delany (Robert Gleckler) for work at a bowling alley/pool hall. He tries to get Mona to get out of the car which attracts an audience, then she tells a policeman that she and David are newlyweds arguing over where the honeymoon will be. Just before David goes to see Delaney, Sid Barkley (Ralf Harolde) and Butch Carter (Ernie Adams) demand $10,000 from Delaney, their cut from a previous job that they took the rap for. Delaney refuses and Carter knifes him in the back, and the two ransack the office looking for money then flee. Delaney has enough life left in him to hide the note from the two criminals in a bowling pin. David discovers Delaney on the floor, saying "the pin" just before dying. David, afraid of being connected to the murder leaves the back way and flees the area with Mona in the car. Since David was the only person to see Delaney before he was killed, police begin a frantic search for him although Mona believes he is innocent. After the police catch up with them, both David and Mona are arrested for the murder. Jerome and Ronnie visit Mona in jail, she tells her father that she loves David, and that he is innocent and insists he get them both out of jail. Mona's father visits David, who refuses help from him and asks him to get his daughter out of jail. Jerome asks Mona to forget David, since his fingerprints were found on the knife and he is the leading suspect. Mona still insists David is innocent, and that she had seen two men drive away from Delaney's place. Mona and Ronnie try to determine what Delaney meant when he said "the pin" just before he died. Mona and Ronnie go to Delaney's office to find clues to the pin, while Barkley and Carter also go there to retrieve the letter they sent him. Mona calls the police just before Barkley and Carter discover she and Ronnie are in the office and the men try to escape the back way but are caught by the police. Mona finds Barkley and Carter's letter in a hinged bowling pin that is lying on the floor. Later the two men confess and David is found innocent. Mona and David reunite.

Cast

as David Mannering *

as Ronnie Van Zandt * Dorothy Libaire as Mona Stewart *

as Ursula Chesebrough *

William P. Carleton William P. Carleton (October 3, 1872 – April 6, 1947) was a silent film actor who appeared in 40 films between 1919 and 1944. He is sometimes billed as William Carleton Jr.. Carleton was born in London and was briefly married to actress Toby C ...

as Jerome Stewart *

Ralf Harolde Ralf Harolde (born Ralph Harold Wigger, May 17, 1899 – November 11, 1974) was an American character actor who often played gangsters. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including '' Smart Money'' with Edward G. Robinson and ...

as Sid Barkley * Ernie Adams as Butch Carter *

Robert Gleckler Robert Gleckler (January 11, 1887 – February 25, 1939) was an American film and stage actor who appeared in nearly 60 movies between 1927 until his death in 1939. He was cast for the role of Jonas Wilkerson, overseer of the slaves at Tara in ...

as Delaney *

Frank Darien Frank Darien (March 18, 1876 – October 20, 1955) was an American actor. He appeared in 225 films and between 1915 and 1951. Filmography References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darien, Frank 1876 births 1955 deaths American ...

as Stationmaster * Charles C. Wilson as District Attorney * Jack Richardson as Simms * Pat O'Malley as Police Officer *

Lloyd Ingraham Lloyd Chauncey Ingraham (November 30, 1874 – April 4, 1956) was an American film actor and director. Biography Born in Rochelle, Illinois, Ingraham appeared in more than 280 films between 1912 and 1950, as well as directing more than 100 f ...

as Dinner Guest *

Bud Jamison William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944)Okuda, Ted, and Edward Watz. 1999. The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-reel Hollywood Film Comedies 1933–1958'. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . was an American film actor. ...

as Johnny O'Rourke *

Frank LaRue Frank La Rue (born 1952) is a Guatemalan labor and human rights law expert and served as UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, from August 2008 to August 2014. Along with Americ ...

as Chief of Police *

Sam McDaniel Samuel Rufus McDaniel (January 28, 1886September 24, 1962)Tanner, Beccy (November 7, 1991)"McDaniel Opened Doors; 'Gone With the Wind' Was Actress' Most Famous Film" ''The Wichita Eagle''. Retrieved January 3, 2021. was an American actor who ap ...

as Train Porter *

Broderick O'Farrell George William Broderick O'Farrell (July 13, 1882 — September 2, 1955) was an American film and stage actor who appeared in both silent and sound films. He began his career at age 14, appearing onstage with the Baker Stock Company in his homet ...

as Dinner Guest

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Clue, The 1935 films 1935 crime films American crime films Films directed by Robert G. Vignola Majestic Pictures films Films scored by Lee Zahler American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films