Roadhouse Nights

His editor is trying to track down Joe King, out investigating a big shipment of booze coming in over Lake Michigan. He doesn't know that King has been killed by Fred Kohler, who runs a local road house, has killed the local chief of police and taken over the town, so he sends Charles Ruggles to find out what's going on. What Ruggles discovers is that his old girlfriend from Kenosha, Helen Morgan, is singing at Kohler's roadhouse, and they get on together like a house on fire, while Kohler grows steadily more suspicious.

If you're looking for a movie based on Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest, this isn't it, despite the credits. Screenwriter and former Chicago newsman Ben Hecht has crafted an entirely new story, and it's a pretty good one at that, even if the pacing is a tad slow. Besides hearing Miss Morgan sing a blues number, you also get to see Clayton, Jackson & Durante doing a couple of their chaotic numbers.