Please Murder Me!

Last updated
Please Murder Me!
Please Murder Me! (1956) film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Godfrey
Screenplay byDonald Hyde
Al C. Ward
Story byDavid T. Chantler
Ewald André Dupont
Produced byDonald Hyde
Starring Angela Lansbury
Raymond Burr
CinematographyAlan Stensvold
Edited byKenneth G. Crane
Music by Albert Glasser
Distributed by Distributors Corporation of America
Release date
  • March 1, 1956 (1956-03-01)(U.S.)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Please Murder Me! is a 1956 American film noir directed by Peter Godfrey and starring Angela Lansbury, Raymond Burr and Dick Foran. [1] [2] [3] The film contains an incomplete copyright notice omitting mention of its claimant and has fallen into the public domain.

Contents

Plot

Defense lawyer Craig Carlson buys a pistol at a pawn shop and deposits it in his office desk drawer with a file folder. He dictates a message into a tape recorder for district attorney Ray Willis, revealing that he expects to be murdered within an hour, and he begins to tell his story in extended flashbacks.

The memories begin with Craig's explanation to his friend Joe Leeds that he is having an affair with Leeds' wife Myra, who wants a divorce. Joe asks Craig to allow him time to consider the matter. Days later at his office, Joe finishes writing a letter and gives it to his business partner Lou Kazarian to mail. Joe phones Myra telling her that he will be home soon to discuss something. There, he confronts Myra in their bedroom, where a door is closed and a gunshot is heard. Police investigate Joe's death. Myra explains that Joe became irate and threatened her physically, forcing her to shoot him in self-defense. Craig is also on the scene, having arrived before the police and acting as Myra's lawyer.

In the ensuing trial, Willis allows the police to present their evidence that a physical struggle did not occur as she had claimed. Willis notes that Myra was unemployed when she first met Joe, a successful businessman with substantial life insurance. In her defense, Craig attributes Myra's inconsistencies regarding the night in question to post-traumatic hysteria. In his closing argument, Craig claims that the financial motive in Willis' case is invalid because Myra was in love with another man—a revelation that could inspire Joe to cause Myra premeditated harm. Craig then reveals that he himself is Myra's lover.

Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr in Please Murder Me.jpg
Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr

The jury finds Myra not guilty. She and Craig throw a party to celebrate with friends,and while celebrating they discuss their plans to marry and travel to Europe on their honeymoon.

Lou Kazarian arrives and reveals privately to Craig that he had forgotten to mail Joe's letter, which was addressed to Craig. Joe discloses in the letter that Myra did indeed marry him for his money, but that she was actually in love with an artist, not with Craig. Joe had decided to ask her to stay married, in part to save Craig from her. Craig then remembers Myra mentioning that an "old friend," an artist named Carl Holt, had visited her in jail during the trial.

Craig visits Holt, who explains his long relationship with Myra, interrupted by her marriage to Joe, and states his gratitude and admiration for Craig in his defense work in Myra's trial, especially for posing as Myra's lover as a tactic. Craig later confronts Myra with Joe's letter and his talk with Holt. She admits that she intends to continue on with Holt now that she is free.

Accusing her of costing him his best friend, the love of his life and his profession all at once, Craig tells Myra that she will pay for her crime because he will force her to murder him. Myra is incredulous, but Craig soon puts a plan in motion and develops a friendship with Holt, even employing him to paint a portrait to delay Myra and Holt's departure to Europe to marry. Craig taunts Myra that he will reveal all of the evidence to Holt and let him decide if he wishes to marry a murderess. Craig meets socially with Willis, discussing Myra's case, and lets Myra see them together.

Craig concludes his story that he has dictated into the tape recorder by saying that he has arranged to meet Myra at the office at 12:30 a.m. Hearing a knock at the office door, Craig leaves the recorder running and hides the microphone before admitting Myra. He shows her the file that he claims is full of evidence that he has compiled against her, and he then rests the pistol on the desk. He starts to make a phone call to Holt. Myra, driven to desperation, takes the gun and shoots Craig, who falls to the floor. Using a handkerchief, she hangs up the phone and wipes her fingerprints from the gun, which she puts in Craig's hand. She finds that the file contains only blank sheets of paper. When Willis arrives, she explains that Craig has shot himself. After checking that Craig is in fact dead, Willis learns that Myra had an appointment with Craig for 12:30, then tells her that Craig had invited him to come at 12:40. He finds the microphone and recorder and then stops and rewinds the tape. As he begins to play Craig's recording, Myra starts crying, defeated.

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Sudden Fear</i> 1952 film noir by David Miller

Sudden Fear is a 1952 American film noir thriller film starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in a tale about a successful woman who marries a murderous man. Directed by David Miller, the screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith was based upon the novel of the same name by Edna Sherry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Cromwell (actor)</span> American actor (1910–1960)

Richard Cromwell also known as Roy Radabaugh, was an American actor. His career was at its pinnacle with his work in Jezebel (1938) with Bette Davis and Henry Fonda and again with Fonda in John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). Cromwell's fame was perhaps first assured in The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), with Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone.

<i>The Mirror Crackd</i> 1980 film by Guy Hamilton

The Mirror Crack'd is a 1980 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton from a screenplay by Jonathan Hales and Barry Sandler, based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1962). It stars Angela Lansbury, Geraldine Chaplin, Tony Curtis, Edward Fox, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, and Elizabeth Taylor. Scenes were filmed at Twickenham Film Studios in Twickenham, London, and on location in Kent.

<i>The Bat</i> (1959 film) 1959 film

The Bat is a 1959 American crime-mystery thriller starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. It is the fourth film adaptation of the story, which began as a 1908 novel The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart, which she later adapted into the 1920 play The Bat. The first film version of the play was the 1926 American silent film The Bat. The film version was adapted by playwright Crane Wilbur, who also directed.

<i>My Little Chickadee</i> 1940 film by Edward F. Cline

My Little Chickadee is a 1940 American comedy-western film starring Mae West and W. C. Fields, featuring Joseph Calleia, Ruth Donnelly, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek, Willard Robertson, Dick Foran, William B. Davidson, and Addison Richards, and released by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Edward F. Cline and the music was written by Ben Oakland and Frank Skinner.

<i>Carnival Story</i> 1954 film

Carnival Story is a 1954 drama film directed by Kurt Neumann, produced by Frank King and Maurice King, starring Anne Baxter and Steve Cochran, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It was made as a co-production between West Germany and the United States.

<i>Waterloo Bridge</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Waterloo Bridge is a 1931 American pre-Code drama romance war film directed by James Whale and starring Mae Clarke and Kent Douglass. The screenplay by Benn Levy and Tom Reed is based on the 1930 play Waterloo Bridge by Robert E. Sherwood.

<i>Ride Em Cowboy</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Arthur Lubin

Ride 'Em Cowboy is a 1942 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, Dick Foran, Anne Gwynne, Johnny Mack Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Samuel S. Hinds, Douglas Dumbrille, Morris Ankrum, and directed by Arthur Lubin. The film focuses on Abbott and Costello as they play the role of two peanut vendors on the run from their boss. Despite their lack of knowledge in the trade, they get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch. The film is set in the West.

Private Buckaroo is a 1942 American comedy-musical film directed by Edward F. Cline starring The Andrews Sisters, Dick Foran, Harry James, Shemp Howard, Joe E. Lewis, and Jennifer Holt. The film tells the story of army recruits following basic training, with the Andrews Sisters attending USO dances.

<i>The Unholy Three</i> (1930 film) 1930 American melodrama film

The Unholy Three is a 1930 American Pre-Code melodrama directed by Jack Conway and starring Lon Chaney. Its plot involves a crime spree. The film is a sound remake of the silent 1925 film of the same name, with both films based on the novel The Unholy Three, by Tod Robbins.

<i>The Killer Inside Me</i> (2010 film) 2010 US crime drama film by Michael Winterbottom

The Killer Inside Me is a 2010 American crime drama and an adaptation of the 1952 novel by Jim Thompson. The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, and Kate Hudson. It is the second film adaptation of Thompson's novel, the first being 1976's The Killer Inside Me, directed by Burt Kennedy.

<i>Marry Me!</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

Marry Me! is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Terence Fisher, and starring Derek Bond, Susan Shaw, Patrick Holt, Carol Marsh and David Tomlinson.

<i>The Living Ghost</i> 1942 film by William Beaudine

The Living Ghost is a 1942 American mystery-drama film directed by William Beaudine and produced by Monogram Pictures. Starring James Dunn and Joan Woodbury, the film incorporates elements of the horror genre as it follows an ex-private detective who is called in to investigate why a banker has turned into a zombie. As the detective shares wisecracks with the banker's cheeky secretary, the two fall in love. The film was distributed in the United Kingdom under the title Lend Me Your Ear, and later released on home video as A Walking Nightmare.

<i>Quiet Please, Murder</i> 1942 film

Quiet Please, Murder is a 1942 drama film directed by John Larkin and starring George Sanders, Gail Patrick and Richard Denning. Based on the short story Death Walks in Marble Halls by Lawrence G. Blochman that appeared in the September 1942 issue of American Magazine. It is also known under the title Death from the Sanskrit.

<i>Eight on the Lam</i> 1967 film by George Marshall

Eight on the Lam is a 1967 American comedy film directed by George Marshall. It stars Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller.

<i>Three Little Girls in Blue</i> 1946 film by H. Bruce Humberstone

Three Little Girls in Blue is a 1946 American Technicolor musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring June Haver along with George Montgomery, Vivian Blaine, Celeste Holm, and Vera-Ellen. The 20th Century-Fox film was adapted from Stephen Powys' 1938 play Three Blind Mice and featured songs with music by Josef Myrow and lyrics by Mack Gordon. The score is notable for the first appearance of the song "You Make Me Feel So Young".

<i>Girl vs. Monster</i> 2012 multi-national TV series or program

Girl vs. Monster is a 2012 American fantasy teen comedy Disney Channel Original Movie that premiered on October 12, 2012. The film stars Olivia Holt as Skylar, a teenage girl who discovers on the eve of Halloween that she is a fifth-generation monster hunter and that her parents are active monster hunters. The movie was directed by Stuart Gillard and produced by Tracey Jeffrey.

The Tartars/I Tartari is a 1961 Italian-Yugoslavian epic historical Technicolor film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Victor Mature and Orson Welles. It is one of the sword-and-sandal genre films made in Italy in the 1950s and early 1960s.

<i>Meet the Missus</i> (1940 film) 1940 film

Meet the Missus is an American comedy film released in 1940. The eighth in the 1938–41 nine-film Higgins Family series, this entry features Alan Ladd in a small role.

<i>Nocturnal Animals</i> 2016 American drama film directed by Tom Ford

Nocturnal Animals is a 2016 American neo-noir psychological thriller film written, produced, and directed by Tom Ford in his second feature, based on the 1993 novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright. The film stars Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, and Michael Sheen. The plot follows an art gallery owner as she reads the new novel written by her first husband and begins to see the similarities between it and their former relationship.

References

  1. ↑ Please Murder Me at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films .
  2. ↑ Heffernan, Kevin (2004). Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953–1968. Duke University Press. p. 240. ISBN   9780822385554 . Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  3. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1997). Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 1998. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated. p. 1048. ISBN   9780452279148 . Retrieved 19 November 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.