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:

She Could Make A Man Do Anything... Even Murder! (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

According to director Edgar G. Ulmer, who was working at PRC at the time this film was made, it was originally to be called "Single Indemnity" (it was a virtual copy of the Fred MacMurray/Barbara Stanwyck film Double Indemnity (1944) of a short time earlier). The producers of "Double Indemnity" got wind of it and threatened legal action. PRC then changed the title to "Apology for Murder".

User Reviews

Pretty good thriller despite low budget and stolen plot

Newspaper reporter Hugh Beaumont visits business magnate Russell Hicks, hoping for an interview. Instead he encounters Ann Savage, who starts right in flirting with him.

Her rich husband, she says, is always nagging her about money...she can't divorce him unless she wants to give up everything and she thinks she has earned his dough...so maybe Beaumont would like to help him have an accident? "It wouldn't be an accident then," Beaumont points out. Her reply: "But you could help me make it look like one."

It's really impossible to watch this tawdry murder tale without thinking of Double Indemnity, whose plot it brazenly copies. On its own merits, though, this is not a bad little thriller, featuring some sharp dialog, a compact story line, and a cast of B movie stalwarts:

Hugh Beaumont is quite good, dragged into a plot against his better judgment then trying haplessly to play it cool when his editor assigns him to write about the murder; Charles D. Brown is fine as the editor who smells something fishy; and Ann Savage is very unlikable but completely irresistible as the deadly female.

It's a cheap production but the story moves along swiftly. Savage's role is especially juicy in the passages in which she has to cajole Beaumont. And there are some great dialog exchanges--

Beaumont: "Sure, I know how you feel. But believe me, murder's not the right answer." Savage: "I guess you never really loved me."