Thursday, March 21, 2024

Murder in the Music Hall (1946)

A somewhat dry crime drama is enlivened by ice dancing.

Ice dancer Lila (Vera Ralston) meets her former producer (Edward Norris) in his apartment and turns down his offer of appearing in his new show. When she returns to the music hall she realised she left her bag behind so returns with Don (William Marshall) the orchestra leader and Lila's beau. 

They discover the producer has been stabbed to death! They discover a glove and trace it to a married socialite Rita (Nancy Kelly) who later admits she was in the apartment but he was living and breathing when she left! Lila and Don try and track down the killer before the police close in...

This is a fine if slightly static crime drama, it is boosted by some tasty ice dance performances. The acting can be a bit iffy at times but the film generally looks great and has plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing.