The Preview Murder Mystery
SCREEN STAR MURDERED! All Hollywood Thrown in an Uproar!
1936 | 60m | English
Popularity: 2 (history)
| Director: | Robert Florey |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Brian Marlow, Garnett Weston, Robert Yost |
| Staring: |
| The star of "Song of the Toreador" receives threatening messages that he will not survive the preview screening of the film. The studio publicist works with the Director, the Producer and the police, to discover who is behind the threats. | |
| Release Date: | Feb 28, 1936 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Robert Florey |
| Writer: | Brian Marlow, Garnett Weston, Robert Yost |
| Genres: | Mystery, Thriller |
| Keywords | movie business, behind the scenes |
| Production Companies | Paramount Pictures |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Aug 03, 2024 Entered: Apr 30, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Reginald Denny | Johnny Morgan |
| Frances Drake | Peggy Madison |
| Gail Patrick | Claire Woodward Smith |
| George Barbier | Jerome Hewitt |
| Ian Keith | E. Gordon Smith |
| Rod La Rocque | Neil DuBeck |
| Conway Tearle | Edwin Strange |
| Thomas E. Jackson | Detective McKane |
| Jack Raymond | George Tyson |
| Colin Tapley | Studio Manager |
| Jack Mulhall | Jack Rawlins |
| Bryant Washburn | Karl Jennings |
| Franklyn Farnum | James Deley |
| Lee Shumway | Chief of Police |
| Spencer Charters | Watchman |
| Chester Conklin | Comedian |
| Hank Mann | Comedian |
| William Arnold | Theatre Manager (Uncredited) |
| William Bailey | Studio Commissary Chief (Uncredited) |
| Bobby Barber | Prop Man (Uncredited) |
| George Barton | Technician (Uncredited) |
| Sidney Bracey | DuBeck's Valet (Uncredited) |
| Henry Brandon | The Bat Man (Uncredited) |
| Bob Card | Cowboy (Uncredited) |
| F.O. Collings | Sound Man (Uncredited) |
| Nell Craig | Woman in Preview Audience (Uncredited) |
| Lester Dorr | Reporter (Uncredited) |
| Eddie Dunn | Tub Wilson (Uncredited) |
| Estelle Etterre | Hewitt's Secretary (Uncredited) |
| Matty Fain | Reporter (Uncredited) |
| Hyman Fink | Photographer (Uncredited) |
| John George | The Gnome (Uncredited) |
| Chuck Hamilton | Policeman (Uncredited) |
| Edward Hearn | Officer (Uncredited) |
| Isabel La Mal | Woman in Preview Audience (Uncredited) |
| Frank Losee Jr. | Assistant Manager (Uncredited) |
| Wilfred Lucas | Director (Uncredited) |
| Carl McBride | Still Photographer (Uncredited) |
| Philo McCullough | Policeman (Uncredited) |
| Torben Meyer | Smith's Butler (Uncredited) |
| Frances Morris | Script Girl (Uncredited) |
| Jack Norton | Comedy Director (Uncredited) |
| Paddy O'Flynn | Assistant Director (Uncredited) |
| Franklin Parker | Cutter (Uncredited) |
| Jack Paul | Newsboy (Uncredited) |
| Earl Pingree | Officer (Uncredited) |
| Ralph Rainger | Himself (Uncredited) |
| Craig Reynolds | Actor (Uncredited) |
| Charles Ruggles | Cameo Appearance as Himself at Preview (Uncredited) |
| Dick Rush | Detective (Uncredited) |
| Ed Schaefer | Detective (Uncredited) |
| Ferdinand Schumann-Heink | English Officer (Uncredited) |
| Charles L. Sherwood | Jovial Cop (Uncredited) |
| Phillips Smalley | Ben, Hewitt's Legal Advisor (Uncredited) |
| Claude Stroud | Monk Gibbons (Uncredited) |
| Hatto Tappenbeck | Cameraman (Uncredited) |
| Monte Vandergrift | Watchman (Uncredited) |
| Luz Vasquez | Dancer (Uncredited) |
| Larry Wheat | Supervisor (Uncredited) |
| Neil Wheeler | Boom Man (Uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Robert Florey | Director |
| Karl Struss | Director of Photography |
| Chuck Hamilton | Stunts |
| Jack Stoney | Stunts |
| Adolph Zukor | Presenter |
| Brian Marlow | Screenplay |
| Garnett Weston | Story |
| James Smith | Editor |
| John Cope | Sound Recordist |
| Robert Yost | Screenplay |
| Hans Dreier | Art Direction |
| A. Earl Hedrick | Art Direction |
| Richard Harlan | Assistant Director |
| A. E. Freudeman | Interior Designer |
| A.W. Singley | Sound Recordist |
| Karl Hajos | Additional Music |
| Howard Jackson | Additional Music |
| Heinz Roemheld | Additional Music |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Edward F. Cline | Associate Producer |
| Harold Hurley | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| 2024 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 2024 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 1 |
| 2024 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 2024 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| 2024 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Trending Position
Rod Laroque ("DuBeck") has been getting threatening letters as he tries to conclude a film shoot at Paramount. Nobody is much surprised as he is a bit of a pain in the neck, but when the unthinkable does happen it falls to Reginald Denny ("Johnny Morgan") to get to the bottom of things. He'd better ... get a move on, because it is soon pretty clear that the killer has a vendetta against the entire cast! The investigation itself is fairly formulaic, but it has the added interest of showing us much of the behind-the-scenes aspects of life in Hollywood and of those on the sound stages. Director Robert Florey has used his budget quite creatively here - the action is pretty much constant, either relating to the search for the killer, or to the making of the feature. The, admittedly wordy, dialogue is not without some plausibly fun digs at the film-making process and at the real-life legends involved in front of and behind the camera. The story itself is really neither here nor there, but it is an entertaining mix of fact and fiction that though fairly predicable, still pitches a decent, workmanlike, cast and I quite enjoyed watching it.