The Mysterious Mr. Valentine
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Philip Ford
William Henry
Linda Stirling
Virginia Christine
Thomas Jackson
Barbara Wooddell
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Late one night, while driving down a deserted road, Janet Spencer, a young woman from Johnstown, California, suffers a blowout and seeks assistance from John Armstrong, a chemist at the Doane and Armstrong chemical factory. Armstrong, who has just killed a man and placed the body in a back room, nervously directs Janet to his telephone. When Armstrong later returns to the back room, he is shocked to discover that the body is missing. Moments later, Rita, Armstrong's wife, enters the office with a photographer. The photographer takes a picture of Armstrong and Janet, which is to be used as evidence in Rita's divorce suit. Janet flees in Rita's car, and while speeding through the town of Caston, she swerves out of the way of an oncoming car and apparently strikes a pedestrian. When two men get out of the car that nearly hit her and volunteer to take the injured man to the hospital, Janet accepts the offer, unaware that they intend to frame her for a hit-and-run murder. Returning to the road, Janet collides with a vehicle at an intersection, but this time she drives away without stopping. Private investigator Steve Morgan, the driver of the other car, finds a piece of Janet's bumper, and later matches it to the car parked in front of her home. Steve suspects that Janet is in trouble, and offers his professional assistance. The following day, the newspapers report that the hit-and-run victim was Ralph Doane, Armstrong's business partner. Steve's investigation reveals that Armstrong is named as the beneficiary on Doane's policy. Steve returns to Janet's, where she shows him a blackmail letter warning that unless she sends $26,000 to a "Mr. Valentine" she will be framed as the hit-and-run driver. Later, Rita hires Steve to find out the identity of the woman in the picture that her photographer took the night before. Steve knows that it is Janet, but he remains silent. His investigation soon reveals that Doane and his mistress, Lola Carson, were working together to get the $100,000 life insurance payment. After examining Doane's body at the morgue, Steve is convinced that Doane was already dead when Janet struck him, and that he was pushed into the path of her car. When Steve searches the Doane and Armstrong warehouse in search of clues, he is attacked from behind and knocked unconscious by the mysterious Mr. Valentine. Meanwhile, the police lieutenant, following a bad clue, concludes that the hit-and-run motorist is Janet and goes to arrest her. Steve, who has fallen in love with Janet, finds her first, and sends her to an out-of-town hotel. A short time later, Armstrong is found murdered and Rita is arrested as the prime suspect. Janet delivers the blackmail money to Lola and her accomplices at the Doane and Armstrong warehouse, but flees before the gangsters can kill her. Steve arrives in time to fight off the extortionists and prove to the police lieutenant that Lola, Armstrong and two accomplices conspired to kill Doane for the insurance money, and that Armstrong was later killed by Lola and the accomplices when he tried to keep all the money for himself. After revealing that the chemical company's insurance agent, Sam Priestly, is Mr. Valentine and one of Lola's cohorts, Steve is given time off to marry and go on a honeymoon with Janet.
Director
Philip Ford
Cast
William Henry
Linda Stirling
Virginia Christine
Thomas Jackson
Barbara Wooddell
Kenne Duncan
Virginia Brissac
Lyle Latell
Ernie Adams
Tristram Coffin
Arthur Space
Robert Bice
Charles Sullivan
Edward Cassidy
James Linn
Symona Boniface
Crew
Donald H. Brown
Hilyard Brown
Thomas A. Carman
Mort Glickman
Alfred Keller
Herbert Kirkpatrick
Jack Lacey
Howard C. Lydecker
Theodore J. Lydecker
Bob Mark
John Mccarthy Jr.
George Milo
Adele Palmer
Lewis Physioc
Milton Raison
Gordon Schaefer
John Stransky Jr.
Richard Tyler
Richard L. Van Enger
Howard Wilson
Film Details
Technical Specs
