Murder in the Music Hall

Murder in the Music Hall is actually an incorrect title for this movie because that's not where the murder occurs. Nevertheless this is actually a good mystery story that is marred by the "acting" of the two lead protagonists: Vera Ralston and William Marshall. I gather Vera Ralston's career can be attributed to her affair and then marriage to the head of Republic Pictures, Herbert Yates.

The film does do okay thanks to the supporting actors like William Gargan, Jerome Cowan, Helen Walker, and Ann Rutherford. And this film is worth watching if only to catch the three minute performance of Mary Field who has the best lines in the picture and the acting chops to make them memorable.

The plot will keep you guessing and their are some excellent suspects, and the viewer will feel they have not been cheated when the murderer is revealed.

Murder In The Music Hall (AKA Midnight Melody) comes out of that bastion of the B movie special, Republic Pictures. It's directed by John English (many Gene Autry Oaters) and the screenplay is adapted from an original story written by Arnold Phillips & Maria Matray. It's stars Vera Hrubá Ralston (Hoodlum Empire/The Fighting Kentuckian), William Marshall (Belle of the Yukon/Adventures of Captain Fabian), Helen Walker (Nightmare Alley/Brewster's Millions) and Nancy Kelly (Jesse James/Stanley and Livingstone).

A smashing little murder mystery musical picture that positively oozes old fashioned values. Tho made in the mid 1940s, this very much feels like a 1930s production, which in all honesty is no bad thing at all. With the dramatic moments involving crime and clues accompanied by loud bursts of music (Walter Scharf), and dialogue such as "what the blue blazes is going on," it has all the necessary ingredients to cater for the classic movie fan. The story is a solid one too. A dastardly stab in the back murder of an ice show producer sees the Rockette type ice dancers of a popular Music Hall show become suspects. As the police start to sniff around, Lila & Don (Ralston & Marshall respectively) do their own amateur sleuthing. With only a glove clue to go on, the need to find a blind man seen in the vicinity of the crime becomes critical.

It's here where the film then ups its drama. With one darkened room meeting between our intrepid sleuths and a blind man being memorably noirish. Up till then it had blended snazzy musical ice dance routines with bubbling under the surface intrigue. At first it's an odd mix, one where after the first blast of jauntiness one wonders if it will be possible to accept the upcoming dramatics, but it does work, in a sort of lulling us into a false sense of security type manoeuvre. Besides which, the numbers and choreography are pleasing on the eye, particularly when involving Ralston, a real life figure skater for her home country of Czechoslovakia. And to cap it all off we got some decent red herrings and the final reveal is not at all insulting. The cast are safe and without histrionic ham, with the beautiful Kelly the standout performer. While English knits it all together in a professional manner.

An enjoyable multi genre splicer breaking free from its budget restrictions with much success. 7/10

Ice-skating headliner Vera Ralston (Lila) is being blackmailed to quit her show and team up with ex-partner Edward Norris (Carl). Norris is stabbed and dies after a meeting with her and Ralston is in a sticky situation. Her current boyfriend William Marshall (Don) sets about solving the mystery.

We are introduced to a cast of characters and one of them is a murderer. The cast are fine in this story set in a music-hall environment. We get to watch some ice-skating performances which is pleasant enough - nothing too special - while the story develops between performances. I must give credit to these girls who run around and chase after clues within their own appearances within the same show! Wow. Anyway, the film is a murder mystery that starts to go off the rails a bit when we focus on the 'blind man' character. At this point, the audience just wants to wrap up the proceedings - just tell us who did it. Unfortunately, the sound quality of the film is poor.

Edward Norris gets out of prison after five years and meets up with his old girl friend, Vera Hruba Ralston. She a lead ice dancer at the Radio City Music Hall, and the man he went to prison for killing was her skating partner and lover. Norris says he took the plea because he loves her, and now he wants his pay-off: come with him to Europe. She's moved on, to libretttist William Marshall and turns him down. Later that evening, Norris is murdered, and Miss Ralston looks like a prime suspect, so she and Marshall go looking for the murderer.

When she's not doing routines on ice, of course. There seem to be four or five numbers in which she stars, and she seems all right. Republic Pictures boss Herbert Yates was smitten with the ice skater, and said he would make her a star. Although they eventually married, and he kept putting her in leads, she never turned into much of an actress.

Fortunately, she didn't need to be much of one here. A couple of the ice dancing routines are good, the mystery script is nicely tangled, with a blind man the principal witness, and there are plenty of other talented actors around, including Jerome Cowan, Helen Walker, Nancy Kelly and Julie Bishop. While the editing could have been tighter, it's a pretty good movie.

When a blackmailer is found murdered in an apartment next to the music hall, Lila, beautiful star of the ice show, becomes a suspect. She had visited the former ice show producer Carl Lang earlier at his New York City penthouse apartment and refuses his offer to star in his new Music Hall Ice Show. He says he can ruin her by pinning the blame of a man's accidental death on her ...

Back at the Music Hall, Lila discovers she has left her purse at Lang's apartment and returns there, followed by orchestra leader Don Jordan; they discover that Carl has been stabbed to death. Lila's understudy Gracie (Ann Rutherford) has also followed them there and helps them remove traces of Lila's visit. They also find a pair of kid gloves -the laundry mark on them leads Don to wealthy socialite Rita Morgan, wife of George Morgan; Rita turns out to be a former ice-skating star for Carl Lang's Music Hall shows.

Rita admits to being in Lang's apartment but says he was in excellent health when she left, and says she passed no one except a blind man.

Determined to prove her innocence, Don is on the hunt for the blind man ...

Vera Ralston gets the chance to show off her splendid ice skating skills amidst the murder mystery, and there's plenty of other fine skating - the standout being the sword fighting one - interspersed between the lively display of detecting and barging into red herrings. It's a fun mystery, maybe a little confusing at times, but fun nevertheless. There's some witty dialogue and a cute Ann Rutherford adding some comic moments. Vera Ralston does well in her role.