The Crime of Helen Stanley (1934) DVD-R

Starring Ralph Bellamy, Shirley Grey, Gail Patrick, Kane Richmond, Bradley
Page, Vincent Sherman
Directed by D. Ross Lederman

Print: black/white
Runtime: 58 min.
Genre: mystery
Print Quality: B

This third entry in Columbia's "Inspector Trent" series is cleverly (and
economically) set in a movie studio. A malevolent leading lady (Gail
Patrick) is murdered while filming a scene, whereupon the nervous
studio head calls in Inspector Trent (Ralph Bellamy). Since everybody on
the lot despised the victim, there's a surplus of suspects — among them
nominal romantic leads Shirley Grey and Kane Richmond and future
director Vincent Sherman. The key to the solution is a booby-trapped
camera, a gimmick that strains the audience's credulity but which works
well within the film's framework. Among the film's highlights is a nightclub
scene in which a bit player, who later became famous as mentalist
Norvelle, predicts Trent's future (and he's right!) Crime of Helen Stanley
was remade four years later as Who Killed Gail Preston?, with Rita
Hayworth as the unfortunate title character.