It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Murder in the Music Hall (1946) – Musical #750

Studio:
Republic Pictures

Director:
John English

Starring:
Vera Ralston (billed as Vera Hruba Ralston), William Marshall, Ann Rutherford, William Gargan, Nancy Kelly, Helen Walker, Julie Bishop, Jerome Cowan, Edward Noris, Jack La Rue, Frank Orth, Fay McKenzie, Mary Field, Anne Nagel, Joe Yule (uncredited)

Specialty Stars on Ice: Condon and Bohland, Red McCarthy, Patti Phillippi, John Jolliffe, Henry Lie

Plot:
During an ice skating performance, star skater Lila Laughton (Ralston) spots a familiar face in the balcony: Carl Lang (Norris). Lang was the show’s former director and producer, just released from jail. He was jailed for criminal negligence when a man, Douglas, was found dead of poisoning that was an accident—though murder is suspected. When Carl is murdered, Lila, her boyfriend, and bandleader Don Jordan (Marshall) and fellow performers, Gracie (Rutherford) and Millicent (Walker), try to find the murderer. At the same time, police Inspector Wilson (Gargan) is investigating the case.

Trivia:
• Re-edited and re-released in 1953 as “Midnight Melody”
• Reviews from 1946 note that the murder doesn’t happen in a music hall but in an apartment.
• Actress Fay Mckenzie’s first film role in two years, though she only appears as a singer in a café.

Highlights:
• Ice skating performances, especially those by Condon and Bohland

Notable Songs:
• “Lead, Kindly, Light” performed by the chorus, ice skated by Vera Ralston
• “If You Were There” performed by Fay Mckenzie
• “(My) Wonderful One”
• “Mess Me Up” performed by Fay Mckenzie
• “My Pushover Heart”

My review:
Murder! Ice skating! Music! What more could you ask for?

This film falls under a sub-genre of ice skating film noir (see also: Belita in SUSPENSE, 1946), however this movie has more music than Belita’s noir films.

Admittedly, this isn’t your typical “musical,” but I think we can file it like we would with a Sonja Henie film. The New York Times review called it an “ice revue,” which is enough for me. There are five skating performances, but the only songs performed are by Fay Mckenzie singing in a café.

In the film, ice skating star Lila Laughton (Ralston) hesitates during her performance, leaving her co-stars (Rutherford, Bishop, Walker) and her bandleader boyfriend, Don (Marshall), wondering what’s up. It’s because Lila spotted former director and producer Carl Lang in the audience. Carl was in jail after a cast member died from ammonia fumes. Now that he’s out of jail, he wants Lila to exclusively perform for his ice skating ballet. After meeting with Carl privately, Lila returns to his apartment with Don to confront only to find Carl dead. While many suspect Lila, Don helps hunt down the true killer — which isn’t easy since Carl wasn’t well liked.

In a way, this could be considered a “backstage” musical. While the ice skating sequences don’t move the plot along like in SUSPENSE, the show is still continuing while Don sniffs out clues.

There are several elaborate ice skating numbers, such as women skating with torches and swords, and another where a male skater painted in metallic paint performs with little on. While former Olympic ice skater (more on that here) Vera Ralston is the star, other ice skating movie stars had little to worry about. She skated well and very pretty, but the performance felt slow and like she was sleep walking. I don’t say that as a Ralston hater (especially because many people pile on), but perhaps her acting isn’t the best.

My favorite ice skaters in the film were Condon and Bohland.

An added bonus: the ice skating sequences were photographed by THE John Alton, A.S.C.

Off the ice, the cast is a lot of fun. I was disappointed that we only had one scene with Jack La Rue, an actor I love to see appear in films and who plays a slightly different character here. I also love the cast of backstage ice skaters, especially Ann Rutherford and Helen Walker. I’ll admit, though, I felt sad that Rutherford was now with Republic film after working at MGM.

I also always love to see William Gargan, but my one complaint is that we didn’t see nearly enough of him. I especially would have enjoyed seeing more of Gargan than bland William Marshall.

The mystery aspect of the film is also interesting and had me guessing towards the end. I was certainly fooled! And as the New York Times review notes, the title isn’t entirely accurate:
The title notwithstanding, it should be noted that the killing doesn’t take place in the Music Hall. The dastard was done to death in an apartment next door.

But despite that little fact, this was still a good time.

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