Grand Central Murder

Excellent 1940's era comedy/who-done-it played out as a series of flashbacks in response to the detective's questions. Good dialog is complemented by unusual use of lights and interesting shots of characters in and amongst trains. Everyone had a motive, most everyone the opportunity, but only the private detective knows how murder was committed. The killer is trapped into revealing him/herself.

Unusual casting. Van Heflin and Virginia Grey appear to be playing Nick and Nora Charles – she only gets one good set of lines and he is nowhere as dapper as William Powell. Connie Gilchrist is excellent as the maid. Tom Conway is miscast but casting of police is excellent. No wasted time in this tight mystery. Highly recommended.

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.

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.

Van Heflin in an early starring role is a private detective with a gorgeous assistant who happens to be his spouse. A gold-digging actress who ran through men as fast as the hapless detective inspector gulps one bottle of "pop" after the other is found dead in a private railway car in Grand Central Station (usually known as Grand Central Terminal).

Many movies have been set in or feature New York's beautiful rail station. In this wartime film, a studio set substituted for the very busy and vital rail center. The sets aren't too convincing - this film was done on a small budget but so what?

Murder is usually serious but the antics of the inspector and his lackluster squad as they try to figure out whodunit make this film, with some sprightly dialogue and good character roles, very humorous. This is a real 1930s-40s view of police as folks who can't find a murderer on a bet (which is also part of this story) without the aid of an outsider, here the indefatigable and comedic "Custer," Van Heflin.

A short film running less than an hour and a half, "Grand Central Murder" is a good party movie. Van Heflin shows the acting ability that led to his appearances in far more serious films.

... and this being a B MGM picture, Van Heflin as Rocky Custer is the civilian sleuth helping the rather befuddled detectives solve a murder, not William Powell.

The picture starts out with a man convicted of murder escaping his police escorts and calling his accuser (Patricia Dane as Mida King), a headliner in a Broadway show. He tells her she doesn't have long to live, and terrified, she leaves in the middle of the show to lock herself in her private railway car. Later she is found dead and, at first, presumed raped.

Unlike the Thin Man movies though, this film rounds up all of the suspects first, and then through them telling their stories in flashback do we find out that Mida was really a pretty awful person and that each person there does have a reason to have killed her. She has been walking on people since the day she hit puberty, and was about to hit her big score in a man with seven million dollars, already planning her Reno divorce before she is even married. The murderer may be guilty of homicide and deserve to go to the chair, but he is probably also eligible for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian award for disposing of this completely amoral person. Also unlike the Thin Man films, Rocky Custer, our civilian sleuth, and his wife/assistant are also suspects and therefore herded with the others.

The group of suspects is herded from an interview room, to the theatre where Mida worked, and finally to the private car and murder scene itself, usually by Rocky artfully goading and manipulating head detective Gunther (Sam Levene). What is taking so much time here besides the fact that everybody had reason to be glad Mida is dead? The medical examiner is having a terrible time figuring out what exactly killed her.

Having the entire group together the whole time makes the film a bit claustrophobic, but the flashbacks help with that some. Van Heflin is just great here, and stands head and shoulders above the cast with his performance, not that the others are bad. He just takes what could have been a somewhat dull B picture and brings out the best in the other characters, making it almost an A production. Do pay attention to the dialogue - it is fast, furious, and most of it is consequential to the plot. It is easy to miss something.

Just one more comment - somebody in the comment section said that this was a remake of Murder in the Private Car. They share absolutely no similarity in plot other than the fact that railroads are involved. Recommended.