Murder in the Private Car (1934)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Harry Beaumont

Writers:

Edward E. Rose (play)
Harvey F. Thew (adaptation)

Release Date:

29 June 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance

Plot:

Ruth Raymond works on the switchboard and her boyfriend is John Blake. It has taken 14 years, but a...

Plot Keywords:

Railroad | Telegram | Rescue | Native American | Train Wreck

Cast

Charles Ruggles	...	Godfrey D. Scott (as Charlie Ruggles)
Una Merkel	...	Georgia Latham
Mary Carlisle	...	Ruth Raymond - aka Ruth Carson
Russell Hardie	...	John Blake
Porter Hall	...	Alden Murray
Willard Robertson	...	Hanks - Car Conductor
Berton Churchill	...	Luke Carson
Clifford Thompson	...	Mr. Allen (as Cliff Thompson)
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones	...	Titus - Car Porter (as Snowflake)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Semels	...	Evil Eye (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Murder on the Runaway Train (UK)

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) | UK:A | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The play opened in Los Angeles, California, USA, on 6 August 1922, but had no New York run.

Quotes:

Georgia Latham: I'll call you Godfrey. It'll sound like I'm swearing.

crime thrilla set on a train - 1934

Charles Ruggles, Mary Carlisle, and Una Merkel star in this crime thriller on a train, made just as the Hays Production was starting to be enforced. Merkel and Carlisle are telephone operators, Ruth and Georgia, but when circumstances change, they end up on a train, in a private car, with the absent minded, stuttering Ruggles as Godfrey Scott. He "deflects" crimes before they occur....(?) And of course, a 35 year old Sterling Holloway (voice of Winnie the Pooh) as an office boy. Keep a quick eye out for Walter Brennan, the railroad switch- man, in a real brief appearance. They pack a lot of action into the 63 minute shortie from MGM. Good photography with the train "chase scenes", in spite of all the back mattes and sped up film scenes used. There is a confusing scene near the beginning, before they all get on the train, but it becomes quite an entertaining film. Appears to have been remade in 1942 as Grand Central Murder (?) also by MGM.