The Roadhouse Murder (1932)

To gain fame, a reporter arranges to be suspected of murder.

Director:

J. Walter Ruben

Writers:

Maurice Level (based on the novel: "L'Épouvante"), J. Walter Ruben (screen play and dialogue),

Stars:

Dorothy Jordan, Eric Linden, Purnell Pratt

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dorothy Jordan	...	Mary Agnew
Eric Linden	...	Chick Brian
Purnell Pratt	...	Inspector Agnew
Roscoe Ates	...	Joyce (as Rosco Ates)
David Landau	...	Kraft
Bruce Cabot	...	Dykes
Phyllis Clare	...	Louise Rand
Gustav von Seyffertitz	...	Porter (as Gustav Von Seyffertitz)
Roscoe Karns	...	Dale
William Morris	...	Judge
Frank Sheridan	...	District Attorney
Carl Gerard	...	Defense Attorney

Storyline

Chick Brian, overeager cub reporter, is stranded during a storm with his girlfriend Mary at the remote Lame Dog Inn. As Mary says, 'What a creepy place!' Soon, they're alone in the house with the victims of a double murder...and Chick has the silly idea of incriminating himself (hiding evidence of his innocence for later) to gain journalistic fame. Things go wrong and the electric chair looms...

---

Plot Keywords:

reporter | old dark house | courtroom | based on novel | based on play

---

Genres:

Thriller

---

Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 1932 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Debut of 'Bruce Cabot (I)'.

---

Connections

Referenced in The American Experience: The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996)

---

Soundtracks

"THREE LITTLE WORDS"
(1930) (uncredited)
Written by Harry Ruby
Lyrics by Bert Kalmar
Hummed by uncredited bathing blonde

User Reviews

This plan never works! So why do they keep trying it?

Reporter stumbles upon murder scene and gets the harebrained idea of framing himself for it. This will allow him to write a great human interest story about the thoughts and feelings of a man being hunted by the police. And of course he can prove that he didn't do it, when the time comes. And of course he winds up in much too close proximity to the electric chair. (What his cute g.f. Dorothy Jordan sees in this loser is a mystery to me.) The plot is as silly here as in nearly every other variation of the one where some moron frames himself for murder with good intentions, but Jordan is perky and helps carry the film in one of her bigger RKO roles. Seeing her name in the credits was the primary reason I watched this picture.

Despite the story problems, picture is also well made by director J Walter Ruben (this was the second film of his that I had ever seen). Ruben and his films are largely forgotten, but he was one of the first writer-director double threats of the sound era, working nearly a decade at RKO before moving over to MGM where he produced but only occasionally directed, before his premature death in the early 1940s. Most of his films are well worth seeking out. TROUBLE FOR TWO, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Suicide Club," is outstanding.