Destination Murder

Director: Edward L. Cahn Edward L. Cahn

Overview

Producer-director Edward L. Cahn's Prominent Pictures produced this low-budget thriller-noir which was then sold outright to RKO. Joyce MacKenzie stars as Laura Mansfield whose father (Franklyn Farnum) is killed in cold blood by smalltime hoodlum turned messenger boy Jackie Wales (Stanley Clements). But the latter has a seemingly ironclad alibi and Laura goes undercover as a nightclub cigarette girl to trap him. Unbeknownst to the heroine, however, Wales is blackmailing Armitage (Albert Dekker), the ruthless nightclub operator who had hired him to murder Mansfield in the first place. But is Armitage the real "Mr. Big" or is someone else pulling the strings?

Product Details

Release Date:	02/22/2011
UPC:	0883316318072
Original Release:	1950
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Full Frame]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:12:00
Sales rank:	53,509

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Joyce MacKenzie	Laura Mansfield
Stanley Clements	Jackie Wales
John Dehner	Frank Niles
Hurd Hatfield	Stretch Norton
Albert Dekker	Armitage
Myrna Dell	Alice Wentworth
James Flavin	Lt. Brewster
Richard Emory	Sgt. Mulcahy
Norma Vance	Inebriated Lady
Suzette Harbin	Harriett
Buddy Swan	Messenger Boy
Burt Wenland	Messenger Boy
Franklin Farnum	Mr. Mansfield,Mr. Mansfield
Steve Gibson's Redcaps	Themselves

Technical Credits

Edward L. Cahn	Director,Producer
Maurie M. Suess	Producer

Editorial Reviews

In Destination Murder, former starlet Myrna Dell plays one of those hard-bitten, blonde schemers that no true film noir could be without. Unfortunately, both she and Stanley Clements, the only other interesting character in the film, are killed off fairly early on in the game. The result is a rather unsatisfying crime thriller where the "Why?" is more of a mystery than the "Who?" Unaccountably, screenwriter Don Martin completely fails to explain why Mansfield (Franklyn Farnum) was murdered, what business he was in, or how his death could in any way benefit the killer. To ease the overall tension of this murky plot, Steve Gibson's Redcaps performs Gibson and James Springs' jazzy "Let's Go to a Party" and the ballad "Palace of Stone."

All Movie Guide - Hans J. Wollstein