Just Off Broadway

Last updated
Just Off Broadway
Directed by Herbert I. Leeds
Written by Brett Halliday
Jo Eisinger
Screenplay by Arnaud d'Usseau
Produced by Sol M. Wurtzel
Starring Lloyd Nolan
Marjorie Weaver
Phil Silvers
Cinematography Lucien N. Andriot
Edited by Louis R. Loeffler
Music by David Raksin
Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Release date
  • September 25, 1942 (1942-09-25)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Just Off Broadway is a 1942 Drama directed by Herbert I. Leeds, starring Lloyd Nolan and Marjorie Weaver. This is the sixth of a series of seven that Lloyd Nolan played Michael Shayne for Twentieth Century Fox films. Hugh Beaumont portrayed Shayne in five more films from Producers Releasing Corporation.

Contents

Plot

Michael Shayne, a private investigator, flees from jury duty to prove the defendant's guilt. He and Judy Taylor, a reporter, begin looking into the suspect's alibis and discover that in addition to the murder he stands trial for, the man has also killed two others. Afterward, the detective is jailed for 60 days for defecting from the jury. [1]

Cast

Related Research Articles

Brett Halliday is the primary pen name of Davis Dresser, an American mystery and western writer. Halliday is best known for the long-lived series of Michael Shayne mysteries he wrote, and later commissioned others to continue. Dresser also wrote westerns, non-series mysteries, and romances under the names Asa Baker, Matthew Blood, Kathryn Culver, Don Davis, Hal Debrett, Anthony Scott, Peter Field, and Anderson Wayne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Howard (American actor)</span> American actor (1913-1995)

John Howard was an American actor. He is best remembered for his roles in the films Lost Horizon (1937) and The Philadelphia Story (1940).

<i>Broadway Melody of 1938</i> 1937 film by Roy Del Ruth

Broadway Melody of 1938 is a 1937 American musical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film is essentially a backstage musical revue, featuring high-budget sets and cinematography in the MGM musical tradition. The film stars Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor and features Buddy Ebsen, George Murphy, Judy Garland, Sophie Tucker, Raymond Walburn, Robert Benchley and Binnie Barnes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyd Nolan</span> American actor (1902-1985)

Lloyd Benedict Nolan was an American stage, film and television actor who rose from a supporting player and B-movie lead early in his career to featured player status after creating the role of Captain Queeg in Herman Wouk's play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial in the mid-1950s. Nolan won a Best Actor Emmy Award reprising the part in 1955 TV play based on Wouk's tale of military justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Shayne</span> American actor (1900–1992)

Robert Shayne was an American actor whose career lasted for over 60 years. He was best known for portraying Inspector Bill Henderson in the American television series Adventures of Superman.

<i>Dressed to Kill</i> (1941 film) 1941 film

Dressed to Kill is a 1941 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Lloyd Nolan, Mary Beth Hughes and Sheila Ryan. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, one of several films to feature the private detective Michael Shayne. The film is based on The Dead Take No Bows, a mystery novel by Richard Burke.

<i>The Brasher Doubloon</i> 1947 American crime film noir by John Brahm

The Brasher Doubloon is a 1947 American crime film noir directed by John Brahm and starring George Montgomery and Nancy Guild. It is based on the 1942 novel The High Window by Raymond Chandler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Meeker</span> American actor (1904–1984)

George Meeker was an American character film and Broadway actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjorie Gateson</span> American actress (1891–1977)

Marjorie Augusta Gateson was an American stage and film actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Rudley</span> American actor (1910-2006)

Herbert Rudley was an American character actor who appeared on stage, films and on television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Harvey (actor)</span> American actor (1882–1955)

Roy Paul Harvey was an American character actor who appeared in at least 177 films.

Michael "Mike" Shayne is a fictional private detective character created during the late 1930s by writer Brett Halliday, a pseudonym of Davis Dresser. The character appeared in a series of seven films starring Lloyd Nolan for Twentieth Century Fox, five films from the low-budget Producers Releasing Corporation with Hugh Beaumont, a radio series under a variety of titles between 1944 and 1953, and later in 1960–1961 in a 32-episode NBC television series starring Richard Denning in the title role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjorie Weaver</span> American actress

Marjorie Weaver was an American film actress of the 1930s through the early 1950s.

<i>Time to Kill</i> (1942 film) American 1942 film

Time to Kill is an American mystery film directed by Herbert I. Leeds. It is the first screen adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel The High Window, which was remade five years later as The Brasher Doubloon. The detective was changed from Philip Marlowe to Michael Shayne for this version, with Lloyd Nolan playing the part and Heather Angel in a rare turn as leading lady. It is also the final Michael Shayne film starring Lloyd Nolan made at Fox, who closed down their popular B movie unit which included Mr. Moto, Charlie Chan, and the Cisco Kid. In 1946 the series would be reborn at Producers Releasing Corporation with Hugh Beaumont taking over the role.

Arnaud d'Usseau was a playwright and B-movie screenwriter who is perhaps best remembered today for his collaboration with Dorothy Parker on the play The Ladies of the Corridor.

<i>Sleepers West</i> 1941 film

Sleepers West is a 1941 American mystery drama film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Lloyd Nolan, Lynn Bari and Mary Beth Hughes. This second entry in 20th Century-Fox's Michael Shayne series was a remake of the 1934 Fox romantic drama Sleepers East from the novel Sleepers East (1933) by Frederick Nebel. The film Michael Shayne - Private Detective (1940) was the first in a series of 12 films. Lloyd Nolan starred as Shayne until the series was dropped by Twentieth Century-Fox and picked up by PRC. In the PRC series, Hugh Beaumont played Shayne.

The Man Who Wouldn't Die is a 1942 mystery film directed by Herbert I. Leeds, starring Lloyd Nolan and Marjorie Weaver. This movie is the 5th of a series of seven of the Michael Shayne movies produced by Twentieth Century Fox between 1940 and 1942.

<i>Blue, White and Perfect</i> 1942 film by Herbert I. Leeds

Blue, White and Perfect is a 1942 American mystery film directed by Herbert I. Leeds and starring Lloyd Nolan, Mary Beth Hughes, and Helene Reynolds. It is part of Twentieth Century Fox's Michael Shayne film series.

<i>Michael Shayne, Private Detective</i> 1940 film

Michael Shayne, Private Detective is a 1940 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Lloyd Nolan, Marjorie Weaver and Joan Valerie. It is based on Brett Halliday's novel The Private Practice of Michael Shayne. It was the first in a series of Michael Shayne films starring Nolan.

<i>The Man Who Wouldnt Talk</i> (1940 film) 1940 film

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk is a 1940 mystery film directed by David Burton and starring Lloyd Nolan, Jean Rogers, and Richard Clarke. It is a remake of the 1929 film The Valiant which had starred Paul Muni, and was based on a play of the same name. It was Nolan's first film for Twentieth Century Fox, where he went on to be a successful star of B Movie mysteries such as the Michael Shayne series. Nolan's portrayal of the lead character was deliberately more subdued than Muni's had been, and the film was "opened up" with the addition of flashback scenes and other devices to make it less dialogue-based than the original.

References

  1. "Just off Broadway (1942) - Herbert I. Leeds | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".