''Apology for Murder'' is a 1945 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarde ...

directed by

Sam Newfield Sam Newfield, born Samuel Neufeld, (December 6, 1899 - November 10, 1964), also known as Sherman Scott or Peter Stewart, was an American B-movie Film director, director, one of the most prolific in American film history—he is credited with d ...

and starring

Ann Savage Ann Savage (born Berniece Maxine Lyon, February 19, 1921 – December 25, 2008) was an American film and television actress. She is best remembered as the greedy cigarette-puffing'' femme fatale'' in the critically acclaimed film noir ''Detour ...

Hugh Beaumont Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1909 – May 14, 1982) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series '' Leave It to Beaver'', originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963; and as private detect ...

Russell Hicks Edward Russell Hicks (June 4, 1895 – June 1, 1957) was an American film character actor. Hicks was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France. He later became a lieutenant Colonel in the Cal ...

and Charles D. Brown. The plot of ''Apology for Murder'' is a blatant rip-off of the seminal film noir '' Double Indemnity'' which was released the previous year. The production company Producers Releasing Corporation, one of the

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featu ...

studios A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery ( ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

of Hollywood’s

Poverty Row Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small (and mostly short-lived) B movie studios. Although many of them were based on (or near) today's Gower Street in Hollywood, the term did n ...

, wanted to take advantage of ''Double Indemnity's'' huge success and originally intended to call the film ''Single Indemnity''. However, Paramount Pictures, the production company of ''Double Indemnity'', obtained an

injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in ...

that barred the film's release under that title. PRC therefore changed the title to ''Apology for Murder''. Much acclaimed

director

Edgar G. Ulmer Edgar Georg Ulmer (; September 17, 1904 – September 30, 1972) was a Jewish- Moravian, Austrian- American film director who mainly worked on Hollywood B movies and other low-budget productions, eventually earning the epithet 'The King of PR ...

, who was working at PRC at the time ''Apology for Murder'' was made, claimed during a conversation with director Peter Bogdanovich that he wrote the original ''Single Indemnity'' script for producer

Sigmund Neufeld Sigmund Neufeld (May 3, 1896 – March 21, 1979) was an American B movie producer. He spent many years at Poverty Row studio Producers Releasing Corporation where he mainly produced films directed by his brother Sam Newfield. When PRC was taken o ...

. Ulmer, though, erroneously believed that the film made from it was finally released under the title ''

Blonde Ice ''Blonde Ice'' is a 1946 crime film noir starring Leslie Brooks, Robert Paige, and Michael Whalen. Based on the 1938 novel ''Once Too Often'' by Elwyn Whitman Chambers, the B picture was directed by Jack Bernhard, with music by Irving Gertz ...

'', which is a totally different film produced by

Film Classics Film Classics was an American film distributor active between 1943 and 1951.Slide p.72 Established by Irvin Shapiro, the company initially concentrated on re-releases of earlier hits by other studios, but began to handle new independent productions ...

Plot

Tough reporter Kenny Blake (Beaumont) falls in love with sultry Toni Kirkland (Savage) who is married to a much older man (Hicks). She seduces him to murder her husband, watching coldly as Kenny strikes her husband to death on a country road. Together, they push the body of Hicks in his car over a nearby cliff. It is soon revealed as a murder when the police confirm Hick's car was in neutral gear, plus the body of Hicks did not bleed, signifying he was dead before the crash. City editor Ward McKee (Brown), Kenny's boss and best friend, begins to pursue the tangled threads of the crime relentlessly and gradually closes the net on Kenny. In the end Toni and Kenny shoot each other. As he dies, Kenny types out his confession to the crime.

Cast

as Toni Kirkland *

as Kenny Blake *

as Harvey Kirkland * Charles D. Brown as Ward McKee *

Pierre Watkin Pierre Frank Watkin (December 29, 1887 – February 3, 1960) was an American character actor best known for playing distinguished authority figures throughout the Golden Age of Hollywood. He is best remembered for his roles of Mr. Skinner the ...

as Craig Jordan *

Sarah Padden Sarah Ann Padden (16 October 1881 – 4 December 1967) was an English-born American theatre and film character actress. She performed on stage in the early 20th century. Her best-known single-act performance was in ''The Clod'', a stage pro ...

as Maggie, the Janitress * Norman Willis as Allen Webb *

Eva Novak Eva Barbara Novak (February 14, 1898 – April 17, 1988) was an American film actress, who was quite popular during the silent film era. Biography On February 14, 1898, Eva Barbara Novak was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Joseph Jerome Nov ...

as Maid *

Budd Buster Budd Leland Buster (June 14, 1891 – December 22, 1965), usually credited as Budd Buster (and sometimes Bud Buster), was an American actor known for B western films. He sometimes was credited as George Selk in his later work. Early life Bu ...

as Jed, the Caretaker * George Sherwood as Police Lt. Edwards * Wheaton Chambers as Minister * Arch Hall Sr. as Paul

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Apology for Murder 1945 films 1945 drama films American drama films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Film noir Producers Releasing Corporation films Films directed by Sam Newfield 1940s American films