I'll Name the Murderer

Tommy Tilton (Ralph Forbes) is the big shot columnist, and when he goes out for a night on the town, a singer is moidered. Tilton must figure out who-dunnit, or face trouble himself. a list of B stars. script is pretty slow. LONG pauses in the script between lines. Meh. shows on Turner Classic, but not very often. Forbes had started in silents, and successfully jumped to talkies. Died quite young at 46, unspecified illness! Tilton's co-hort/co-star is Marion Schilling. Directed by Bernard Ray. Produced by Puritan Pictures, a Sam Katzman company, and according to wikipedia, was only around for about a year before closing down. Like I said... Meh.

Florid, over-confident newspaper gossip columnist Tommy Tilton (Ralph Forbes) turns sleuth when his friend is blamed for the murder of an ex-girlfriend with a taste for blackmail. We're introduced to a number of colorful supporting characters, with Tilton gradually figuring out the nature of the crime through a combination of bluff and insight. He also uses his column to "smoke out" the guilty party, even when he doesn't yet know who the guilty party is! Director B.B. Ray was an old hand at low-budget action films and westerns, and with minimal sets and dialogue that describes actions that would be too expensive to film, Ray keeps the action moving at a swift pace. Forbes plays the part of Tilton as something of a dandy, with a lot of empty bravado. When Tilton proclaims "I'll name the murderer" in the next day's paper, even though he doesn't yet have any proof, we audience members pull for him, WANTING him to crack the case. I'll let you see the film yourself to see how all this is resolved... Overall, a solid 1930s poverty-row murder mystery from Puritan Pictures, best known for their 1935-36 series of interesting Tim McCoy westerns, including the classic MAN FROM GUNTOWN.

Ralph Forbes is gossip columnist Tommy Tilton, who excels in slinging nonsense about who is being seen where—and, it turns out, is not a timid bluffer when it comes to coaxing out a murderer.

Yes, an entertainer is murdered in her dressing room. Tommy Tilton's friend looks pretty guilty, but there's a raft of suspects who also had crossed and been crossed by this particular singer. Tilton's game: He uses his society column to draw out the guilty person with taunts and hints, eventually claiming that he will name the murderer in his next column. Whether his boast is backed up is, of course, in great doubt….

Forbes is smooth as the fast-talking and fast-thinking newsman. The other characters, alas, are not particularly unique, although James Guilfoyle is appropriately smarmy as "real" private detective Lou Baron, who attempts his own bluff—at actual competency, among other things—and doesn't fare nearly as well as Tilton. Marion Shilling is cute as "Smitty," Tommy's photographer colleague (and girlfriend?), but she just isn't given enough to do in this picture.

Quick and fun. Plus there's dancing!

Instead of a well-known crime detective we get a hotshot newspaper columnist who's hot on the trail of a murderer. Tommy Tilton (Ralph Forbes) writes a gossip column called "Tattle-Tales Along Broadway", and hobnobs with all the big city police brass and attorneys in town.

When one of Tommy's buddies is suspected of murder in a supper club, Tommy's fast thinking and keen deduction work quickly to unmask the killer. The film's title comes from Tommy's ongoing sleuthing efforts described in his daily column.

The script of "I'll Name The Murderer" is b-grade quality, typical of the 1930s. Tommy is something of a gadabout playboy type that I found less than credible as a detective; Charlie Chan and other fictional detectives carry more cerebral heft.

I counted 6 or 7 suspects. The identity of the killer came as something of a surprise to me. I guess I missed the part about the person's motive. Dialogue is fast-paced and perfunctory, though there's a bit of humor in a few scenes. The ending plot segment contains just a bit of spine-tingling suspense, but then the story ends rather abruptly, via some usual plot clichés.

B&W cinematography is fairly good for the most part. But sound quality is a bit muffled. Except for Ralph Forbes, who is not convincing as a detective, the casting is okay. Acting is about what you would expect for the 1930s, slightly amateurish and at times a bit hammy. Most scenes take place on indoor sets minimally furnished, though certainly no more austere than the Monogram sets for Charlie Chan.

As a whodunit, this film is not bad, but there's nothing here that we haven't seen before in countless other murder mysteries. I would describe "I'll Name The Murderer" as mediocre.