Terror by Night

Director: Thornton Freeland Thornton Freeland

Overview

Rita La Roy has good reasons to hate her philandering husband, Hooper Atchley, in this low-budget but sumptuous-looking art deco mystery directed by comedy specialist Thornton Freeland. The cool and calculated Miss La Roy isn't the only person with a grudge against the nasty Atchley, however; in fact, quite a few people come under suspicion when the philanderer is found dying from a bullet wound in his penthouse apartment. Just before he expires, Atchley manages to gasp, "Casey," referring perhaps to Arthur Jones (William Collier Jr.), whose sister (June Clyde) was one of the evil man's latest victims. In the middle of the investigation, the murder scene is plunged into darkness, a shot is fired, and when the electricity returns, yet another victim is found, with the late Mr. Atchley's pet monkey -- the secret witness -- clutching a still smoking gun. Police Captain McGowan (Purnell Pratt) is at first dumbfounded, but with the help of dizzy neighbor Una Merkel, the identity of the murderer is finally revealed.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/09/2015
UPC:	0644827506323
Original Release:	1931
Source:	Reel Vault
Language:	English
Sales rank:	59,819

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Una Merkel	Lois Martin
William Collier, Jr.	Arthur Jones
ZaSu Pitts	Bella
Purnell Pratt	Capt. McGowan
Clyde Cook	Larson
Hooper Atchley	Herbert Folsom
June Clyde	Tess
Mike Donlin	Actor
Greta Granstedt	Moll
Ralf Harolde	Lewis Leroy
Paul Hurst	Brannigan
Rita La Roy	Sylvia Folsom
Clarence Muse	Building Engineer
Nat Pendleton	Gunner

Technical Credits

Editorial Reviews

Produced by Poverty Row entrepreneur J. G. Bachman, Terror by Night performed so well in previews that Columbia Pictures bought it outright. And no wonder. This little film remains one of the better examples of the lightweight stage whodunit, brimming with theatricality, but never less than entertaining. Based on Samuel Spewack's novel Murder in the Gilded Cage, Terror by Night (aka The Secret Witness) was directed with the appropriate light touch by Thornton Freeland, among whose future assignments were such musicals as Flying Down to Rio (1933) and George White's Scandals (1935). Freeland was helped immeasurably by an august cast of farceurs that included the infectious Una Merkel and eternally fluttery Zasu Pitts. The latter, as a nosy telephone operator, is especially amusing, offering several potent double entendres that still resonate today. While perhaps not a classic whodunit, Terror by Night remains a thrilling, and sometimes very funny, hour feature.

All Movie Guide - Hans J. Wollstein