The first of three mysteries featuring detective Bill Crane (Preston Foster) and sidekick Doc Williams (Frank Jenks). The other two are "The Lady in the Morgue" and "The Last Warning."
A Crime Club Mystery.
Initially telecast Monday 2 December 1946, this was the third of four Universal Crime Club features to be aired on New York City's DuMont Television Station WABD in November-December 1946, marking the first breakthrough of major studio films being telecast in the postwar era; this actually came about because, by this time, they had fallen into the hands of Astor Pictures Corporation, who had been distributing them theatrically for the past four years. It was preceded by The Black Doll (1938) and The Lady in the Morgue (1938) and was followed by Danger on the Air (1938). It would not be until ten years later that Universal itself, and the rest of the majors, opened their vaults to their longtime rival, television. In Washington DC it first aired Monday 28 July 1947 on WTTG (Channel 5), in Los Angeles Sunday 7 September 1947 on KTLA (Channel 5), in Boston Friday 11 June 1948 on WBZ (Channel 4), in Chicago Saturday 10 July 1948 on WGN (Channel 9), in Atlanta Saturday 27 November 1948 on WSB (Channel 8), in Detroit Thursday 7 July 1949 on WJBK (Channel 2), in Salt Lake City Thursday 28 July 1949 on KSL (Channel 5), in Cincinnati Friday 2 September 1949 on WKRC (Channel 11), in San Francisco Tuesday 20 September 1949 on KPIX (Channel 5) and in Albuquerque Sunday 2 October 1949 on KOB (Channel 4).
This was the first picture produced as part of Universal's 1937 deal with the pulp mystery publisher, Crime Club. The deal allowed the studio to produce up to 4 of it's novels per year. A total of 11 films, all B-pictures were produced, ending with The Witness Vanishes (1939), released in late September, 1939.
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