''Shake Hands with Murder'' is a 1944 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

directed by

Albert Herman Albert Herman (1887–1958) was an American actor, screenwriter and film director. Herman was a prolific director, working mainly on low-budget movies for companies such as Producers Releasing Corporation. He is sometimes credited as Al Herman. ...

and starring

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage and film actress. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who wed in 1 ...

Frank Jenks Frank Jenks (November 4, 1902 – May 13, 1962) was an American actor and vaudevillian. Biography Early years Jenks was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and his mother gave him a trombone when he was 9 years old. By his late teens he was playing ...

and

Douglas Fowley Douglas Fowley (born Daniel Vincent Fowley, May 30, 1911 – May 21, 1998) was an American movie and television actor in more than 240 films and dozens of television programs. He is probably best remembered for his role as the frustrated m ...

. The film is a

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

released by the low-budget distributor

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation (generally known as PRC) was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called " Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower St ...

.Dixon p.55

Plot

Patsy Brent runs a small

bail bond Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when r ...

company. Her ambitious but dull-witted partner Eddie Jones secures bail for Steve Morgan, a man accused of embezzling $100,000 from his bank. Brent is furious and is forced to track Morgan before he can skip the country. When the president of the bank is found murdered, she also suspects that Morgan may even be a killer as well. However he is trying to prove his innocence of the charge, and Brent is persuaded to assist him in finding the real culprit.

Cast

as Patsy Brent *

as Eddie Jones *

as Steve Morgan * Jack Raymond as Joe Blake *

Claire Rochelle Claire Rochelle (August 22, 1908–May 23, 1981) was an American film actress. She played the female lead in a number of westernsPitts p.389 and worked as a stunt woman. Rochelle was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her parents were Mr. and ...

as Miss Johnson, Secretary *

Herbert Rawlinson Herbert Banemann Rawlinson (15 November 1885 – 12 July 1953) was an English-born stage, film, radio, and television actor. A leading man during Hollywood's silent film era, Rawlinson transitioned to character roles after the advent of sound f ...

as John Clark * Juan de la Cruz as Mr. Stanton * I. Stanford Jolley as Mr. Haskins *

Forrest Taylor Edwin Forrest Taylor (December 29, 1883 – February 19, 1965) was an American character actor whose artistic career spanned six different decades, from Silent film, silents through Sound film, talkies to the advent of Color motion picture fil ...

as Mr. Kennedy *

George Kirby George Kirby (June 8, 1923 – September 30, 1995) was an American comedian, singer, and actor. Career Born in Chicago, Kirby broke into show business in the 1940s at the Club DeLisa, a South Side establishment that employed a variety-sho ...

as George Adams *

Gene Roth Eugene Oliver Edgar Stutenroth (January 8, 1903 – July 19, 1976), known professionally as Gene Stutenroth or Gene Roth, was an American film actor and former theater manager. He appeared in more than 250 films over three decades. Early ...

as William Howard * Anitra Sparrow as Waitress * Buck Harrington as Police Sergeant

References

Bibliography

* Dixon, Wheeler. ''Producers Releasing Corporation: A Comprehensive Filmography and History''. McFarland, 1986.

External links

* 1944 films 1944 mystery films 1944 comedy films 1940s comedy mystery films American comedy mystery films Films directed by Albert Herman Producers Releasing Corporation films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films English-language comedy mystery films {{mystery-film-stub