Grand Central Murder

Infobox Film
name = Grand Central Murder


image_size = 215px
caption = theatrical poster
director = S. Sylvan Simon
producer = B. F. Zeidman
writer = Sue MacVeigh "(novel)"
Peter Ruric "(screenplay)"
starring = Van Heflin
Patricia Dane
Sam Levene
music = David Snell
cinematography = George J. Folsey
editing = Conrad A. Nervig
distributor = MGM
released = May fy|1942
runtime = 73 minutes
country = FilmUS
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0034808

"Grand Central Murder" is a comedy/mystery film released in 1942. It was based on Sue MacVeigh's 1939 novel of the same name, and stars Van Heflin as a private investigator who is one of the suspects in a murder on a private train car in Grand Central Terminal. The film was directed by S. Sylvan Simon.

Plot

Actress Mida King (Patricia Dane) is killed in a private train car on a siding in Grand Central Terminal in New York while trying to run away from her gangster ex-boyfriend Turk (Stephen McNally), who's escaped from police custody. Police Inspector Gunther (Sam Levene) assembles all the suspects, including wisecracking private detective "Rocky" Custer (Van Heflin), and they all tell their stories. They include Turk; David (Mark Daniels), her rich boyfriend; the boyfriend's ex-fiancee, Connie (Cecilia Parker) and her magnate father (Samuel S. Hinds); Mida's spiritualist step-father Ramon (Roman Bohnen); her ex-husband Paul (George Lynn) and her producer Frankie (Tom Conway). Also mixed in are Mida's maid, ex-burlesque singer Pearl Delroy (Connie Gilchrist) and her daughter "Baby" (Betty Wells), Mida's understudy.

Cast

*Sam Levene as "Inspector Gunther"
*Mark Daniels as "David V. Henderson"
*Stephen McNally as "Turk"
*Betty Wells as "Baby" Delroy"
*George Lynn as "Paul Rinehart"
*Roman Bohnen as "Ramon"
*Millard Mitchell as "Detective Arthur Doolin"

Cast notes
*Stephen McNally made his film debut in "Grand Central Murder" under the name "Horace McNally".
*Tom Conway is brother to actor George Sanders, and took over the role of "The Falcon" in that film series when his brother left. [imdb name|0007218|Tom Conway]
*Patricia Dane was married to bandleader Tommy Dorsey. Her career hit the skids in the mid-40s after she told off a MGM executive who was critical of her work. [Jay S. Steinberg [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=3556&category=Articles "Grand Central Murder" (TCM article)] ]
*Sam Levene, who was the original "Nathan Detroit" in "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway, often portrayed police investigators who played second-fiddle to private investigators. He performed that function several times in the "Thin Man" series. [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0505249/bio "Sam Levene" biography] ]
*Millard Mitchell is best known for playing producer "R.F. Simpson" in "Singin' in the Rain". [imdb name|0593612|Millard Mitchell]

Production

"Grand Central Murder" is a sequel of sorts to "Kid Glove Killer", in which Van Heflin played a similar part. [AllMovie [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:93658 Overview] ] Donna Reed and Reginald Owen were originally cast in the film, but were replaced.TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=3556&category=Notes Notes] ] The film was in production at MGM's studios in Culver City, California from 19 February to 13 March fy|1942,TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=3556&category=Overview Overview] ] [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034808/business Business data] ] and premiered in New York City on 23 May of that year.

Notes

External links

*imdb title|0034808
*tcmdb title|id=3556
*amg movie|1:93658