Apology for Murder (1945)

When a reporter helps his girlfriend murder her rich husband, an innocent man gets the blame and faces execution.

Director:

Sam Newfield

Writers:

Fred Myton (screenplay), Fred Myton (original story)

Stars:

Ann Savage, Hugh Beaumont, Russell Hicks

Cast

Cast overview:
Ann Savage	...	Toni Kirkland
Hugh Beaumont	...	Kenny Blake
Russell Hicks	...	Harvey Kirkland
Charles D. Brown	...	Ward McKee
Pierre Watkin	...	Craig Jordan
Sarah Padden	...	Maggie - the Janitress
Norman Willis	...	Allen Webb
Eva Novak	...	Kirkland's Maid
Budd Buster	...	Jed - the Caretaker
George Sherwood	...	Police Lt. Edwards
Wheaton Chambers	...	Minister
Arch Hall Sr.	...	Paul (as Archie Hall)
Elizabeth Valentine	...	Mrs. Harper - Rancher's Wife
Henry Hall	...	Prison Warden

Storyline

Reporter Kenny Blake (Hugh Beaumont) falls in love with scheming Toni Kirkland ('Ann Savage') not knowing that she is married to Harvey Kirkland (Russell Hicks), a man years older than she. By the time he finds out, he is so under her spell that he murders her husband which is what Toni had planned all along. City editor Ward McKee (Charles D. Brown, Kenny's boss and best friend, begins to pursue the tangled threads of the crime relentlessly and gradually closes the net on Kenny. The latter is mortally wounded by Toni, who has deserted him for another man.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | husband wife relationship | held at gunpoint | deception | adultery | 

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Taglines:

"I brushed you off because I couldn't be bothered with you any more...you didn't have what it takes to go through with something...you won't involve me in any murder rap...you've said all that you'll ever say!" (original poster)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 1945 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sigmund Neufeld Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Re-titled, and edited down to less than thirty minutes, it was sold to television in the mid-1950's as part of a syndicated half hour mystery show.

User Reviews

Enjoyable....though the film is a complete rip-off.

"Apology for Murder" is a very good film with one problem...the plot is a complete ripoff of "Double Indemnity". In far too many ways does this PRC film mirror the Paramount film from the previous year.

The movie stars Hugh Beaumont as a murderer. Although he was such an incredibly nice ordinary guy as the father on "Leave it to Beaver", he often played scum-bags or hardboiled cops in films. In this film, he plays a reporter named Kenny who visits the elderly Harvey Kirkland to try to get a story. He meets a young lady named Toni (Ann Savage) and assumes it's Kirkland's daughter--but it's his young and conniving wife. She feigns interest in Kenny...all to try to get him to help murder her husband. But when he does the dirty deed, he learns she's already picked out another boyfriend and that someone else is being blamed for the husband's murder!

This story has so much from the previous film...and it's obvious they were copying. But even with this, Beaumont is still excellent and the super-cheap film still exudes a nice, noirish atmosphere. Totally unoriginal...but still worth your time.