Murder by Television

Last updated
Murder by Television
MurderByTelevision.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Clifford Sanforth
Written by Joseph O'Donnell
Produced by Harry Joe Brown
Starring Bela Lugosi
June Collyer
Huntley Gordon
George Meeker
Cinematography James S. Brown Jr.
Edited by Leslie F. Wilder
Music by Oliver Wallace
Production
company
Cameo Pictures Corp.
Distributed byImperial Distributing Corp.
Release date
  • October 1, 1935 (1935-10-01)
Running time
55 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Murder by Television (1935) is an American mystery film starring Bela Lugosi, June Collyer, and Huntley Gordon. [1] The film is also known as The Houghland Murder Case. The cast also includes Hattie McDaniel.

Contents

Plot

James Houghland, inventor of a new method by which television signals can be instantaneously sent anywhere in the world, refuses to sell the process to television companies, who then send agents to acquire the invention any way they can.

On the night of his initial broadcast Houghland is mysteriously murdered in the middle of his demonstration and it falls to Police Chief Nelson to determine who the murderer is from the many suspects present.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bela Lugosi</span> Hungarian-American actor (1882–1956)

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, known professionally as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian–American actor, best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic Dracula, Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (1939) and his roles in many other horror films from 1931 through 1956.

<i>Arsenic and Old Lace</i> (play) Play by Joseph Kesselring

Arsenic and Old Lace is a play by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, written in 1939. It has become best known through the 1944 film adaptation starring Cary Grant and directed by Frank Capra.

<i>White Zombie</i> (film) 1932 film by Victor Hugo Halperin

White Zombie is a 1932 pre-Code horror film independently produced by Edward Halperin and directed by Victor Halperin. The screenplay by Garnett Weston, based on The Magic Island by William Seabrook, is about a young woman's transformation into a zombie at the hands of an evil voodoo master. Bela Lugosi stars as the zombie master "Murder" Legendre, with Madge Bellamy appearing as his victim. Other cast members include Joseph Cawthorn, Robert W. Frazer, John Harron, Brandon Hurst, and George Burr MacAnnan.

<i>Invisible Ghost</i> 1941 film by Joseph H. Lewis

Invisible Ghost is a 1941 American horror film directed by Joseph H. Lewis, produced by Sam Katzman and starring Bela Lugosi.

<i>The Invisible Ray</i> (1936 film) 1936 film

The Invisible Ray is a 1936 American science-fiction horror film directed by Lambert Hillyer. It stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Janos Rukh, a scientist who comes in contact with a meteorite composed of an element known as "Radium X". After exposure to its rays begins to make him glow in the dark, his touch becomes deadly, and he begins to be slowly driven mad. Alongside Karloff, the film's cast includes Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Walter Kingsford, Beulah Bondi, Violet Kemble Cooper, and Nydia Westman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regis Toomey</span> American actor (1898–1991)

John Francis Regis Toomey was an American film and television actor.

<i>The Ghost of Frankenstein</i> 1942 film by Erle C. Kenton

The Ghost of Frankenstein is a 1942 American horror film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Cedric Hardwicke, Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. It is the fourth film in the Frankenstein series by Universal Pictures, and the follow-up to Son of Frankenstein (1939). The film's plot follows the previous film's: Frankenstein's Monster and his companion Ygor are chased out of town. They go to another small town to encourage the younger son of Henry Frankenstein to continue his father's experiments, so that Ygor can have revenge against his enemies and his brain transplanted into the Monster's skull.

<i>The Raven</i> (1935 film) 1935 film by Lew Landers

The Raven is a 1935 American horror film directed by Louis Friedlander and starring Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi. Billed as having been "suggested by" Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 poem of the same title, excerpts of which are quoted at a few points in the film, it was adapted from an original screenplay by David Boehm. Lugosi stars as a neurosurgeon obsessed with Poe who has a torture chamber in his basement, and Karloff plays an escaped murderer on the run from the police who Lugosi manipulates into doing his dirty work.

<i>Murders in the Rue Morgue</i> (1932 film) 1932 film

Murders in the Rue Morgue is a 1932 American horror film directed by Robert Florey, based on Edgar Allan Poe's 1841 short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". The plot is about Doctor Mirakle, a carnival sideshow entertainer and scientist who kidnaps Parisian women to mix their blood with that of his gorilla, Erik. As his experiments fail because of the quality of his victims' blood, Mirakle meets with Camille L'Espanye, and has her kidnapped and her mother murdered, leading to suspicion falling on Camille's fiance, Pierre Dupin, a medical student who has already become interested in the earlier murders.

<i>The Phantom Creeps</i> 1939 film by Ford Beebe

The Phantom Creeps is a 1939 12-chapter science fiction horror serial starring Bela Lugosi as mad scientist Doctor Zorka, who attempts to rule the world by creating various elaborate inventions. In a dramatic fashion, foreign agents and G-Men try to seize the inventions for themselves.

<i>Black Dragons</i> 1942 film by William Nigh

Black Dragons is a 1942 American film directed by William Nigh and starring Bela Lugosi, Joan Barclay, and George Pembroke. The cast includes Clayton Moore, who plays a handsome detective. The Black Dragon Society also appears in Let's Get Tough! a 1942 East Side Kids film made by the same team of writer Harvey Gates and producer Sam Katzman.

<i>The Ape Man</i> 1943 film by William Beaudine

The Ape Man is a 1943 American horror film directed by William Beaudine. The film is based on "They Creep in the Dark" by Karl Brown, which was published in The Saturday Evening Post. It stars Bela Lugosi as Dr. James Brewster who is aided by his colleague Dr. Randall. The doctor manages to transform himself into a ape man hybrid and desperately seeks a cure. Brewster believes that only the injection of human spinal fluid will prove effective as a cure. As Randall refuses to help him, Brewster and his captive gorilla seek involuntary donors.

<i>The Mad Miss Manton</i> 1938 film by Leigh Jason

The Mad Miss Manton is a 1938 American screwball comedy-mystery film directed by Leigh Jason and starring Barbara Stanwyck as fun-loving socialite Melsa Manton and Henry Fonda as newspaper editor Peter Ames. Melsa and her debutante friends hunt for a murderer while eating bonbons, flirting with Ames, and otherwise behaving like irresponsible socialites. Ames is also after the murderer, as well as Melsa's hand in marriage.

<i>The Thirteenth Chair</i> (1929 film) 1929 film

The Thirteenth Chair is a 1929 American mystery film directed by Tod Browning. The picture is based on a 1916 play of the same name by Bayard Veiller. It stars Conrad Nagel, Leila Hyams and Margaret Wycherly.

<i>The Dark Eyes of London</i> (film) 1939 British film

The Dark Eyes of London is a 1939 British horror film produced by John Argyle and directed by Walter Summers, and starring Béla Lugosi, Hugh Williams, and Greta Gynt. The film is an adaptation of the 1924 novel of the same name by Edgar Wallace. The film is about a scientist named Dr. Orloff who commits a series of murders for insurance money, while periodically disguising himself as the blind manager of a charity to further his scheme.

<i>Voodoo Man</i> 1944 film by William Beaudine

Voodoo Man is a 1944 American horror film directed by William Beaudine, and starring Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and George Zucco.

<i>The Black Camel</i> (film) 1931 film

The Black Camel is a 1931 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Hamilton MacFadden and starring Warner Oland, Sally Eilers, Bela Lugosi, and Dorothy Revier. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Earl Derr Biggers. It is the second film to star Oland as detective Charlie Chan, and the sole surviving title of the first five Chan films starring Oland. The Black Camel marked the film debut of Robert Young.

<i>Postal Inspector</i> 1936 film by Otto Brower

Postal Inspector is a 1936 American crime film directed by Otto Brower and starring Patricia Ellis, Ricardo Cortez and Bela Lugosi. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.

<i>Night of Terror</i> 1933 film by Benjamin Stoloff

Night of Terror is a 1933 American pre-Code horror film directed by Benjamin Stoloff, and starring Bela Lugosi, Sally Blane, Wallace Ford, and Tully Marshall. Despite receiving top billing, Bela Lugosi has a relatively small part. The film is also known as He Lived to Kill and Terror in the Night.

<i>Mother Riley Meets the Vampire</i> 1952 British film

Mother Riley Meets the Vampire, also known as Vampire Over London or My Son, the Vampire, is a 1952 British horror comedy film directed by John Gilling, starring Arthur Lucan and Bela Lugosi that was filmed at Nettlefold Studios.

References

  1. "Murder by Television". afi.com. Retrieved 2024-02-03.