The Westland Case

Chicago businessman Bob Westland is facing execution for the murder of his wife when lawyer Charlie Frazee receives an anonymous letter claiming that Westland is not guilty. He hires a private detective, who begins investigating the crime. It's tricky - Mrs. Westland was found dead inside a locked apartment, and only she and Mr. Westland have keys. The detective discovers evidence pointing to Westland's innocence - but can he prove the truth in time?

With the help of a deep-sea diver, a stop watch, and a taxicab driver, he is sprinting after the real culprit...just as Westland is starting his last mile to the electric chair.

Ok mystery with plenty of chatter, wise cracks, suspects and a fast talking detective, however it became a little overwhelming and tedious after a while, and the detective came across obnoxious, but the finale has some tension especially with Westland getting close to the electric chair ... and the real culprit just about to be nabbed.

Obnoxious detective (Preston Foster) assembles the friends of a man on death row to help prove he didn't commit the murder of which he was convicted. First in the Crime Club series from Universal. Most of these movies weren't connected but three of them feature Foster as detective Crane and Frank Jenks as his sidekick Doc. Crane just annoys me. He's not funny or charming like they clearly intended him to be. His seeming indifference to what's going on gets old fast. The rest of the cast is ok. Clarence Wilson and Harlow knock-off Barbara Pepper are standouts. It's a fairly routine B detective picture. Not bad to kill an hour but nothing special.

Theodre Von Eltz has got five days to go before he's executed for sa crime he didn't commit. In a last minute move of desperation he hires a trio pf detectives, Preston Foster, Frank Jenks, and Clarence Wilson.

foster and Jenks clown around a lot in the film, but it's an act to keep folks relaxed so they might make a mistake.

Forensics is the key. The victim was shot with a British Webley pistol which the condemned man owned and it's lost. a lot of this has Foster looking his gun and another that did the job presumably

Good programmer from the B unit at Universal.

1937's "The Westland Case" began the regrettably short-lived series of Crime Club mysteries from Universal, clearly superior to their Inner Sanctums but more difficult to find. Of the 7 official entries, 3 starred Preston Foster as hard drinking, perpetually sleepy Detective Bill Crane, and Frank Jenks as his wisecracking sidekick Doc Williams; such was the case with this first one, as Robert Westland (Theodore von Eltz) has only six days left to live, convicted of murdering his wife, whom he was in the process of divorcing. Crane and Williams are summoned when someone sends Westland a note promising to alibi him, but every time a new lead becomes promising, the subject winds up dead. The dead wife was discovered locked in her room, her key still lying on the table beside the body, and her husband in possession of the only other key, plus his gun has seemingly disappeared after the murder. Foster and Jenks excel in their tailor-made roles, not dissimilar to the "I Love a Mystery" duo, Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough), who also did 3 features in 1945-46. Russell Hicks and George Meeker make a decent pair of suspects, and Ward Bond plays Westland's fellow death row inmate Connors, who puts him onto the right lawyer to get him out, played with great relish by scene-stealing Clarence H. Wilson (frequently seen opposite Charlie Chase in 2 reel Hal Roach comedies). The other Bill Crane titles are "The Lady in the Morgue" (bringing back Thomas E. Jackson and Barbara Pepper) and "The Last Warning" (both 1938). Editor Otis Garrett graduated to director with the next Crime Club, "The Black Doll," missing out on just one, "The Last Warning."

PI Preston Foster is hired to prove the innocence of Theodore von Eltz -- also a tough job -- before he hangs in less than a week.

It's the first of three Universal mysteries based on Jonathan Latimer's 'Bill Crane' detective novels. It's a fine classic crime mystery, with Foster gradually assembling the real story, although his conclusions remain a little obscure even after he explains them and produces the witness. Still, for a second feature, it's brief, lively and gets the job done.

It's directed by the under-rated Christy Cabanne. Mr. Cabanne is generally considered a terrible director, but when he had a bit of a budget, he could get some nice effects. He began directing under the supervision of D. W. Griffith about 1913, and by the early 1930s was considered a leading director at the newly constituted MGM. Sound hit him hard, like many of the old professionals, but until the end of the 1930s, he held up his end in programmers and second features. He directed his last of more than 150 features and short subjects in 1948 and died two years later, aged 62.