Grand Central Murder

**SPOILERS** Sharp and witty whodunit set in New York's Grand Central Station. The conniving and cold-hearted Broadway star Mida King,Patrica Dane, being found dead in her fiancée David V. Henderson's, Mark Daniels,private railroad car has the policeman on the case Inspector Gunther, Sam Levene, wanting to find and arrest who murdered her. With all the people in the movie who had it in for Mida it seemed to him that almost everyone who knew her was a prime suspect in her murder.

This all started when Mida's old boyfriend Turk, Stephen McNally, escaped from the two cops taking him back to NYC, on the New York North Railway. Turk was to be retried for a crime he was convicted of. Turk on the loose later calls Mida, between scenes in her play at the Harmony Theater, telling her that she's hasn't long to live. This causes Mida to cut short her performance and run and hide in David's private rail car parked in Grand Central Station the "Thanaopsis".

Private Eye Rocky Custer, Van Heflin,and his secretary wife Sue, Virgina Gray, has been on Turk's case and now that he's blown all the leg-work he did for him, that can get him a new trial and find Turk innocent, Rocky takes a personal interest in Turk's run in with the law and now Mida's murder. Captured in a police dragnet Turk is now the main suspect in Mida King's murder since he was the one who called and threatened her just before her body was found in David's railroad car.

Just when you, and Inspector Gunther, feel that all the evidence point's to an indictment and conviction of Turk as Mida's killer in pop's PI Rocky Custer and starts to spin a web of intrigue and deception, on the part of Mida's real killer. Rockys evidence point's to her past as a gold digger and social climber which draws in everyone she ever had any relationships with in achieving her aims, sexual and financial.

Milda had used persons as far flung as her nutty old step-father known professionally as "The Magnificent Ramon", Roman Bohnen, to her ex-husband Paul Rinehart, George Lynn, who she took for a ride and then dropped him when he ended up broke. Among those suspected in Milda's murder there's even the heart-broken blue-blooded and beautiful Constance Furness ,Cecilia Parker, and her equally upset father industrialist Mr. Roger Furness ,Samual S. Hinds, who's childhood friend and long time lover David V. Henderson Milda stole from her. Not to mention the producer of the play that Mida was in, that had her drop the broke and out of work Turk to get involved with him, Broadway and Hollywood entrepreneur Frankie Ciro, Tom Conway.

We later learn that both Rocky and Sue was on the scene just after Mida was found dead and figured out just who was responsible for her death. It came as no surprise that it was one of the many persons that she crossed during her climb to the top of the Broadway scene. That set up the film's "Grand Central Murder" thrilling and fast paced ending.

A bit too complicated for a 73 minute B-movie "Grand Central Murder" has so many plots and sub-plots, that we see in a series of flashback, involving who was with Mida King in the last fifteen or so minutes of her life and who could have murdered her that by the time the killer is exposed you almost lost interest in who and what he, or she, is anymore.

It's the fine acting from Van Haflin on down and witty script that keeps you watching and staying with the film's slow moving story that takes a while to take hold but the final few minutes more then make up for it.

Although this movie stars Van Heflin, you'd almost swear that it's a series detective film. If the names were only changed, I could imagine that this could have been a decent plot for Boston Blackie, the Lone Wolf or the Saint. That's because although the story is told through a series of flashbacks, in most other ways it is identical to a series film. It features the usual daffy lead police detective, his dumber than a tomato assistant, great snappy dialog, accusations that the private eye himself committed the murder, a sidekick for this guy and more twists and turns than any crime film deserves to have! For lovers of the genre, this film is a must-see---especially since Heflin's performance is so good and apparently effortless. While the movie occasionally bogs down a tad here and there (it is a bit too "talky"), it is generally quite interesting and the film's conclusion is truly horrific yet exciting to watch. Good stuff well worth your time.

Not a bad murder mystery with an interesting slant, gathering the usual suspects together in one place to flush out the guilty one takes place at the beginning of the film rather than at the end as would normally be the case. This enables the story to unfold in flashback fashion as told by each of the suspects. Van Heflin shines in one of his early roles. He seems a bit brash in places but otherwise is excellent. Patricia Dane in one of her few cinema appearances does well as the nasty gold digger who is murdered. Sam Levene made good money playing the dumb police inspector in several films of the period including two Thin Man's. So he knew his part by heart. And it's good to see veteran actor Millard Mitchell in one of his early roles.

When I first watched "Grand Central Murder," I reasoned it was taken from a play because that is how it runs. There are a few action scenes involving trains, especially at the end, but otherwise it could all have taken place on stage. This makes the movie very talkative and is a major weakness. I was surprised to see that the screenplay was adapted from a novel by Sue MacVeigh. So director S. Sylvan Simon must be to blame. The script is well-written with many witty lines. Not a bad way to spend 73 minutes.

In the same year that Van Heflin won the supporting Oscar for "Johnny Eager," he gave another wonderful performance as a comedic investigator involved up to his head in a murder mystery.

Mida King has it all. She is a Broadway star who is about to marry a millionaire before dumping him and cashing in on all that money.

Involved with a mob figure, (Steve McNally) in an unusually restrained performance, King, played by Patricia Dane, meets an untimely end as the film is the usual who did it with comic overtones.

Besides Heflin, Connie Gilchrist shines as the maid. Her Brooklyn accent suits her well here and she is forever endearing in the part.

Sam Levene, as the police detective, caught up in this mayhem does a fine job here.

This film is definitely well worth watching. Look for wonderful comic timing by Heflin.

When a not so sympathetic victim (Patricia Dane) is murdered in a private side car at Grand Central Station, detective Van Heflin and a crusty inspector (Sam Levene) join forces to solve the case. A neat little mystery yarn, this was an above average B-picture from MGM that gave us an early glimpse of Van Heflin, a young actor who was certainly blessed with enormous talent. Virginia Grey, Stephen McNally, Samuel S. Hinds, Connie Gilchrist, Tom Conway and Millard Mitchell are fine in supporting roles and the ending comes as a satisfying, if not probable, conclusion.

This is the sort of film that played the lower half of a double bill when released in 1942, but even then it was praised as an above average thriller. It moves at a swift pace and is guaranteed to hold your interest.