Flight from Destiny (1941)

After philosophy Professor Todhunter is told he has 6 months left to live, he is barred from teaching by his college so there won't be a scandal if he drops dead in class. Discussing a ... See full summary »

Director:

Vincent Sherman

Writers:

Anthony Berkeley (story), Barry Trivers (screenplay),

Stars:

Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Jeffrey Lynn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Betty Farroway
Thomas Mitchell	...	Prof. Henry Todhunter
Jeffrey Lynn	...	Michael Farroway
James Stephenson	...	Dr. Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens
Mona Maris	...	Ketti Moret
Jonathan Hale	...	Dist. Atty. Johnson
David Bruce	...	John Saunders
Thurston Hall	...	Dean A.K. Somers
Mary Gordon	...	Martha
John Eldredge	...	Peterson
Hardie Albright	...	Ferrers
William Forrest	...	Prentiss
Weldon Heyburn	...	Brooks
William Hopper	...	Travin (as DeWolf Hopper)
Alexander Lockwood	...	Conway

Storyline

After philosophy Professor Todhunter is told he has 6 months left to live, he is barred from teaching by his college so there won't be a scandal if he drops dead in class. Discussing a hypothetical man with 6 months to live with a group of friends, Todhunter asks each what he'd do in his last 6 months. One says he'd commit a "social murder" kill someone who is not a criminal but without whom society would be better off. The professor obsesses on the idea and actually comes across a situation involving two of his friends where he thinks it would be a good idea to act on his obsession.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | housekeeper | art forgery | jail | death | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 February 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Invitation to a Murder

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

a very different kind of film

Thomas Mitchell takes a "Flight from Destiny," in this 1941 film also starring Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jeffrey Lynn, and Mona Maris.

Thomas plays a professor with six months to live who is told by his boss that he can't teach any longer at the university. He would like to do something meaningful in his last six months. After giving it some thought and talking to his buddies at his club, he decides to murder someone, someone whom the law can't touch, someone whose loss wouldn't be missed and someone who is a detriment in her world.

He learns that there are problems in the marriage of his friends, Betty and Michael Farraway. Michael is a talented artist but hasn't been producing much lately. Professor Todhunter and Betty follow him one night and see him meeting a glamorous woman, Ketti Moret (Maris), an art dealer.

Todhunter visits the woman, who denies any interest in Michael other than in his career, and while there, Todhunter admires a valuable painting. When he goes to Michael's studio with Betty, he finds a painting that doesn't look like Michael's work but does look like the old painting in Ketti Moret's house. The professor realizes that she is having Michael replicate the artist's style, and she is selling them as originals. He investigates Moret thoroughly and discovers that she abandoned her husband and daughter, putting her daughter in an orphanage, and doesn't help her mother, who works as a janitor. Todhunter decides that she must die.

While somewhat predictable, this is certainly an original story with an excellent performance by Thomas Mitchell. I love the beautiful Mona Maris in anything, and she was wonderful as the amoral, narcissistic Ketti. Geraldine Fitzgerald is lovely but wasted, and Jeffrey Lynn is very good.

It's hard to describe this film or story - it's really one you have to see and judge for yourself. In well over 3000 films that I've seen, I've seen just one other with as bizarre a plot, Trouble for Two, from Hollywood's golden era. Well worth a look.