Hollywood Stadium Mystery
Cast & Crew
David Howard
Neil Hamilton
Evelyn Venable
Jimmy Wallington
Barbara Pepper
Lucien Littlefield
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At a preview showing of her new mystery play at the Pen and Pencil club in Hollywood, writer Pauline "Polly" Ward meets District Attorney Bill Devons, who says that her premise was all wrong, and bets her five dollars that she won't recognize his voice next time they meet. As she leaves with Jake, her agent, to go to a boxing match, a man robs them, but he turns out to be Bill, who wins the bet. Polly, however, tricks Bill by having the watchman arrest him. At the stadium, Ace Cummings is murdered just before his fight with Champ Madison. There are several prime suspects, including actor Ralph Mortimer, actress Althea Ames, gambler Slats Keefe, and Ace's girl friend, Edna. While the investigation goes on, radio announcer Nick Nichols broadcasts the events live. Polly tells the police that Ace was killed by powdered cyanide squirted in his face, and a doctor confirms her theory. Edna becomes the prime suspect, but after O'Keefe is also found murdered, Polly and Bill are able to solve the case, even though they are frequently at cross purposes. Because Polly knows that the murderer whistled the song "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain," she is able to identify Nichols as the killer when he starts to whistle. Because he had won part of the Champ's contract, Nichols didn't want Ace, the favorite, to win the match and thus lessen the Champ's value as an investment. Settling another bet, Bill takes Polly up on her dinner offer and suggests they try Hawaii, where they go on their honeymoon.
Director
David Howard
Cast
Neil Hamilton
Evelyn Venable
Jimmy Wallington
Barbara Pepper
Lucien Littlefield
Lynne Roberts
Charles Williams
James Spottswood
Reed Hadley
Robert Homans
William Haade
Pat Flaherty
Dan Toby
Smiley Burnette
Al Bayne
Crew
Alberto Colombo
Phil Ford
John Victor Mackay
Edward Mann
Dorrell Mcgowan
Stuart Mcgowan
Stuart Mcgowan
Ernest Miller
Stuart Palmer
Irene Saltern
Armand Schaefer
Murray Seldeen
Al Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The New York Times reviewed this film under the title The Stadium Murders. According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, Jack Townley was assigned to write the screenplay for the picture in September 1937, after the picture was "taken off the shelf." Townley was not credited in any other source, however. In the story, the key to the murder was indirectly provided by Republic star, Gene Autry, when the character Polly sees a billboard advertising his 1936 film Comin' Round the Mountain and is thus able to identify the tune that the murderer whistled.
