A tidy little murder mystery from Chesterfield that keeps you guessing until the end. Who killed the blackmailing gold digger? There are plenty of suspects including three of her current marks, wives and girlfriends, and a former partner. The murderer accidentally (not intentionally) gets some of his own medicine in the end. Any of these 1930s quickies that surprises at the end is worth seeing. Chesterfield has a fairly good record for turning them out, better than most second tier studios. Dorothy Revier as the two-faced vixen is believable as "that kind of woman". You have to wonder how she can conceal her baser nature from the shills. The shapely Marceline Day is always worth watching. Conway Tearle's usual dull acting style fits perfectly here as the chief of detectives, reflecting the quiet competence of a man who has seen it all many times before. The plot moves at an appropriate police procedural pace.
15 Reviews
3 pretty actresses in the one short film!!!
kidboots3 April 2008
Classy Natalie Moorehead plays Beth Hawthorn, who is worried her fiancée is involved with a notorious gold-digger, Miriam King (Dorothy Reiver). Miriam is being blackmailed by a Mr. Scott and agrees to ask one of her lovers for the $5,000 needed. Before she can obtain the money she is murdered.
Pretty Marceline Day plays Pearl Hope, Miriam's former room-mate. She is in love with Marino (Don Alvarado, a Latin type actor in vogue in the early sound era) who was also involved with Miriam months before. Everybody is implicated in the murder.
Conway Tearle, a matinée idol of the silent screen, plays the chief detective. Maurice Black, who had a long list of credits usually playing ethnics was Mr. Scott.
The story isn't much although there are so many suspects you will never guess who did it. It is just nice to see 3 beautiful actresses in the same short film.
Pretty Marceline Day plays Pearl Hope, Miriam's former room-mate. She is in love with Marino (Don Alvarado, a Latin type actor in vogue in the early sound era) who was also involved with Miriam months before. Everybody is implicated in the murder.
Conway Tearle, a matinée idol of the silent screen, plays the chief detective. Maurice Black, who had a long list of credits usually playing ethnics was Mr. Scott.
The story isn't much although there are so many suspects you will never guess who did it. It is just nice to see 3 beautiful actresses in the same short film.
Sometimes There's Payback
Hitchcoc25 October 2007
This is about philandering. It has at the center, a gold digger who is using planned extortion to get what she wants. She sets herself up, leaving little choice among her victims. Of course, the men are truly culpable and deserve much of what they get. The conclusion is pretty far fetched. If you are old enough to own a phonograph (turntable) you will get my point. The bad guys are depending a lot on some pretty random incompetence. This is interesting and has a few twists and turns, so it's not bad, but the conclusion is unsatisfying. The character of the young woman is pretty well portrayed and the acting isn't too bad. Still, it could have been better with a little more imagination.
Mildly interesting early 30s murder mystery
Paularoc28 July 2013
Evidently, this movie was based on the unsolved 1923 murder of showgirls Dorothy King. King needs $5,000 to pay off her ex- boyfriend and tries to blackmail one of her current wealthy customers into giving her the money. Conway Tearle plays the detective in charge of the investigation who just happens to be in love with the wife of one of his friends; a friend who later becomes a suspect. Tearle is unbelievably wooden in his performance as is Natalie Moorehead in her role of the wife. The best part of the movie is the interesting way a young couple establishes an alibi for the time of the murder - that was clever. And the murder method was kind of interesting. But other than that it's a bit of a slog to watch all the way through. A mildly interesting period mystery but not memorable.
Interest wanes fast in this real life Broadway scandal.
mark.waltz24 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Perhaps with a better script and a higher budget, this could have been a fun melodrama of how a blackmailed blackmailing chorus girl is bumped off and how her case progresses. Dorothy Reveier is only on screen for a few minutes as the victim, so there isn't enough time to set up interest in her story. She is described later in the film having been a little nobody when picked up and put in jewels and furs, the apparent cause of her turning bad. Several suspects come in and out of the story with little detail of what lead to them wanting her dead. Vampish Natalie Moorehead plays against type as a victim for a change rather than a calculating perpetrator of mischief. This creaks along with a lot of talk and long pauses in dialog which makes it on occasion unbearable. Conway Teale headlines as the detective. The conclusion and cause of the victim's death is pretty clever, but much of the remainder of the film lacks in interest.
Dull murder-mystery made on the cheap
vandino112 December 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Another low-budget item distributed by Chesterfield Pictures. This one is a dull murder-mystery with Dorothy Revier as a gold digger who ends up murdered. Plenty of suspects with plenty of bad acting and cliché goings-on. But there is that murder weapon (a poisoned record needle)! And when Frazer is outed as the murderer, he confesses, then poisons himself with the needle! Star Conway Tearle plays the dogged inspector. Stock music on the soundtrack. And, lastly, co-star Marceline Day, so effective and fetching as Buster Keaton's love interest in 'The Cameraman' is neither in this film. She is rather plain-looking and her acting is terrible. A shame.
Bad, just bad.
fwdixon22 March 2009
I watched this movie as an entry on one of those "50 Movies" DVD sets (Crime Classics), so maybe I didn't get the highest quality video around. Nevertheless, I found this movie to be stultifyingly bad. The script is muddled and confusing. Characters come and go and the time line is jarring and confusing. The acting generally sub-par, with the best performance being turned in by Maurice Black, probably best known for his role as "Little Arnie" Lorch in "Little Caesar". The audio is terrible and at time unintelligible. The cinematography is primitive and looks many times as if filmed in a closet. Don't get me wrong, I like "bad" movies but more in the vein of Ed Wood bad. This film has nothing to offer the viewer on any level.
Bring Back Dorothy Revier!
JohnHowardReid14 June 2008
It's a remarkable fact that some of the "B" directors like Richard Thorpe adapted to sound much faster than acclaimed "A" leaders like John Ford and Howard Hawks. Thorpe's Border Romance (1929) is very competently made indeed, and in this 1932 production he could still give some of the masters a keen lesson in pacing. Indeed, the first two reels move with such celerity that the average viewer needs to be really on his toes to keep up with the plot. And at this stage it's worth paying attention, because the sultry Dorothy Revier is right up there on the screen. When she is killed, the pace slows somewhat when the focus shifts to Marceline Day (who is too rake-thin for my taste) and plodding-as-she-goes hero, Conway Tearle. Nonetheless, the mystery is still intriguing enough, and Thorpe makes good use of Universal's standing sets to give the movie a bit of class. Natalie Moorhead is exotic enough to command a bit of interest, and an outstanding cameo by Rose Dione also helps. Alas, as usual in many of these Poverty Row thrillers, the solution to the mystery is somewhat contrived. Also disappointing is the revelation of the actual killer. In fact the whole climax is a letdown. One gets the impression that the producer ran out of money at this stage and simply wound the film down. Curtain!
Deadening whodunit with fair resolution
gridoon202415 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"King Murder" is one of the least successful old-time mysteries I've seen lately. It's all talk, and the talk is mostly mechanical, and spoken by actors you've probably never heard of (so there's not even the fun of recognition). Natalie Moorhead is the only one I recognized, and she appears briefly at the beginning and the end of the movie. At least the resolution is fair (in both senses of the word). *1/2 out of 4.
Not an exploitation film despite the subject matter.
planktonrules9 January 2014
"The King Murder" is available on DVD from Alpha Video. Like most of Alpha's films, this one has a rather rough print--a bit blurry (looking as if copied from a videotape or just a very used print) and with poor sound (there's too much background hiss). Unfortunately, this is likely the only way you'll find the film so you'll need to accept it, warts and all. Fortunately, as the film progresses, the sound quality at least improves though at the end it suddenly became worse.
This story was apparently based on a famous murder case of the era involving a blackmailer named Dot King. Interestingly, the studio (Universal) didn't disguise this very well, naming the character Miriam King.
Miriam has made a career out of seducing rich married men. Then, once she has incriminating information, she blackmails them into paying her not to produce this information to their wives. After her latest shakedown, Miriam ends up dead and the police are trying to figure out what happened. It isn't easy, as she's gathered a lot of enemies over the years.
Conway Tearle plays Detective Barton--the man assigned to work on this murder case. Interestingly, despite the subject matter being rather salacious and the recentness of the actual murder, the film did NOT seem exploitational in the least. Likewise, it was handled in a quiet, cerebral fashion and the overall film was far better than I'd expected--especially since it was from tiny-budget Chesterfield Productions. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the pawn broker seemed incredibly broadly portrayed---extremely Jewish--most likely in keeping with stereotypes of the day. Worth seeing even with the lousy print.
This story was apparently based on a famous murder case of the era involving a blackmailer named Dot King. Interestingly, the studio (Universal) didn't disguise this very well, naming the character Miriam King.
Miriam has made a career out of seducing rich married men. Then, once she has incriminating information, she blackmails them into paying her not to produce this information to their wives. After her latest shakedown, Miriam ends up dead and the police are trying to figure out what happened. It isn't easy, as she's gathered a lot of enemies over the years.
Conway Tearle plays Detective Barton--the man assigned to work on this murder case. Interestingly, despite the subject matter being rather salacious and the recentness of the actual murder, the film did NOT seem exploitational in the least. Likewise, it was handled in a quiet, cerebral fashion and the overall film was far better than I'd expected--especially since it was from tiny-budget Chesterfield Productions. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the pawn broker seemed incredibly broadly portrayed---extremely Jewish--most likely in keeping with stereotypes of the day. Worth seeing even with the lousy print.
Needled To Death With Poison
zardoz-1328 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This brief murder mystery about the death of a woman who specializes in blackmail will keep you guessing up until the last five minutes when all is revealed in a surprising conclusion. Just about everybody who knew the dame who died had a reason to kill her and they are scrutinized by the head of the homicide bureau. The authorities find Miriam King (Dorothy Revier) resting comfortably in her bed but quite stone dead from a chemical prick on her hand. Homicide Bureau Chief Henry Barton personally takes command of the case and leaves a detective in King's apartment until the lab guys arrive. Meantime, Barton has suspicious playboy Van Kempen (Robert Frazer) following him around while he investigates the case and discover many people who had the motive to kill King but didn't. Everything started with Elizabeth Hawthorn (Natalie Moorhead) visiting Barton at his office and confiding her jealousy about an affair between Van Kempen and King. Not only is King seeing Van Kempen, but she is also flirting with wealthy Arthur B. Bronnell (Huntley Gordon). When her lowlife crime associate Philip Scott (Maurice Black) demands $5,000 to repay the mob, he approaches King and his demand seems significant enough because she struggles to collect the dough. Director Richard Thorpe keeps the action in motion from start to finish as scripter Charles Reed Jones orchestrates all the incriminating characters. The real mystery concerns the plainclothes detective who was detailed to remain in the dead lady's residence but turns up dead! Entertaining, lightweight crime melodrama.
Not too bad
sb-47-60873724 January 2020
I will transport myself to 1932, and then if I look at, it isn't that bad as some of use have said here. It definitely has more merit than the 5.4 score that is given now.
The mystery is built up quite well, of who-dunnit and being precode, the story could openly say about the pre as well as post marital relation - the fact of life which naturally the codes won't let be brough out. And in those circumstances, the high society blackmailer (Miriam King) is killed - and probable murderer could be any of the three current (should have been more) males she had been sponging on, her own black mailer, or even any of the current girlfriends/ wives of her victims who knew of her existence with their lovers/ husbands.
The method of the murder was very ingenuous and probably unless the murderer hasn't committed virtual suicide, to save some one dear, the case would have remain unsolved.
It is a neat mystery, fast paced, and not too much to find-fault about, even if it wasn't a 'B' movie.
"Listen big boy, you're not talking to a gaga!"
classicsoncall25 April 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Well this one was quite absorbing right up to the end with the revelation of the murder weapon and the killer. A poisoned Victrola needle - What!!?? How clumsily inept would you have to be to scratch yourself with one of those, especially on top of your hand the way cop Dugan was dispatched. And did Van Kempen (Robert Frazer) purposely wound himself with the same needle? I'm not going back to find out; by that time I thought the suspense of setting up all the other suspects was pretty much wasted.
You see, the exposition of the story was pretty intricate for an early 1930's flick, and there weren't the type of plot holes you could usually drive a getaway car through. There were plenty of suspects who would have had a reason to get Miriam King (Dorothy Revier) out of the way, who by the way was a fairly accomplished juggler the way she handled her men. Say, wouldn't it have been great if Chief Barton (Conway Tearle) had put the finger on Elizabeth Hawthorn in that billiard scene right near the end? I thought that was the direction they were going, especially the way she might have telegraphed her guilt when she first learned of Miss King's murder. I think that would have been a more satisfying conclusion than watching Van Kempen lay out the whole story as he died in the ambulance.
My best takeaway from the picture is right up there in my summary line, the bit about 'not talking to a gaga', spoken by Miss King before she met her demise. Couldn't help but relate to the current antics of pop celebrity Lady Gaga who's a walking definition of the word - self absorbed, infatuated and silly all at the same time.
You see, the exposition of the story was pretty intricate for an early 1930's flick, and there weren't the type of plot holes you could usually drive a getaway car through. There were plenty of suspects who would have had a reason to get Miriam King (Dorothy Revier) out of the way, who by the way was a fairly accomplished juggler the way she handled her men. Say, wouldn't it have been great if Chief Barton (Conway Tearle) had put the finger on Elizabeth Hawthorn in that billiard scene right near the end? I thought that was the direction they were going, especially the way she might have telegraphed her guilt when she first learned of Miss King's murder. I think that would have been a more satisfying conclusion than watching Van Kempen lay out the whole story as he died in the ambulance.
My best takeaway from the picture is right up there in my summary line, the bit about 'not talking to a gaga', spoken by Miss King before she met her demise. Couldn't help but relate to the current antics of pop celebrity Lady Gaga who's a walking definition of the word - self absorbed, infatuated and silly all at the same time.
Murder by gramophone!
lor_21 September 2023
I once was amused by a lousy Bela Lugosi thriller called "Murder by Television", from the '30s before television had actually gone public, but this earlier mystery/police procedural was even clunkier in its plot gimmick. It does have a certain camp fascination now, before reaching its centenary, on the level say of a "Creation of the Humanoids", a minimalist sci-fier I used to see in crummy syndication packages that not surprisingly was a favorite of Andy Warhol's.
The defects here are quite obvious, most significantly being the absence of real characters, as the writing is all geared toward function: situation drama rather than situation comedy. The actors are not attractive or interesting at all and emerge as mere stick-figures. I suspect that a 1932 audience would have to be addicted to B movies to get into it -no "Grand Hotel" superstar glamor or allure or even stars on the rise like a Bogart or Lombard. The cop is smug and dull, and only moves forward in his investigation by luck. The suspects are numerous and all equally boring. Worse yet, its talky emphasis unfolds like a radio play -one can close one's eyes and not miss anything, especially with the various opportunities for a fight, a chase or even real violence carefully avoided to minimize the budget.
The defects here are quite obvious, most significantly being the absence of real characters, as the writing is all geared toward function: situation drama rather than situation comedy. The actors are not attractive or interesting at all and emerge as mere stick-figures. I suspect that a 1932 audience would have to be addicted to B movies to get into it -no "Grand Hotel" superstar glamor or allure or even stars on the rise like a Bogart or Lombard. The cop is smug and dull, and only moves forward in his investigation by luck. The suspects are numerous and all equally boring. Worse yet, its talky emphasis unfolds like a radio play -one can close one's eyes and not miss anything, especially with the various opportunities for a fight, a chase or even real violence carefully avoided to minimize the budget.
Had Me Guessing, and That's Good
view_and_review14 February 2024
"The King Murder" like "The Canary Murder Case" (1929) and "Discarded Lovers" (1932) featured a female victim with multiple paramours. Any one of them could be guilty.
The victim was Miriam King (Dorothy Revier). She was shaking down a few men who'd been dumb enough to cheat on their wives with her. She was found dead one night by a man named Jose Moreno (Don Alvarado) who'd broken into her apartment to steal some letters that compromised him. He as well as a host of other men were suspects. Even two women were suspects: Elizabeth Hawthorn (Natalie Moorhead), the wife of one of Miriam's marks, and Pearl Hope (Marceline Day), the friend (or more) of Jose Moreno.
I must say that this murder mystery did have me guessing. At one point I was convinced of who the murderer was (I always lock on to the one with the least supposed motive and opportunity), just to be wrong. So for that, I give this movie a 7/10.
Free on YouTube.
The victim was Miriam King (Dorothy Revier). She was shaking down a few men who'd been dumb enough to cheat on their wives with her. She was found dead one night by a man named Jose Moreno (Don Alvarado) who'd broken into her apartment to steal some letters that compromised him. He as well as a host of other men were suspects. Even two women were suspects: Elizabeth Hawthorn (Natalie Moorhead), the wife of one of Miriam's marks, and Pearl Hope (Marceline Day), the friend (or more) of Jose Moreno.
I must say that this murder mystery did have me guessing. At one point I was convinced of who the murderer was (I always lock on to the one with the least supposed motive and opportunity), just to be wrong. So for that, I give this movie a 7/10.
Free on YouTube.
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