Ticket to a Crime (1934)

[Harold Aherne]

I picked up the Alpha DVD of this little murder-mystery in part because of who was in the cast: Ralph Graves, Lois Wilson and Charles Ray. While I can't say that it's an undiscovered gem, it's a decent enough way to spend 60-odd minutes.

Ralph Graves plays a detective who's recently begun a private agency. He doesn't have many customers, though, and his secretary (Lola Lane) passes the time typing "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party" just to sound busy. She threatens to quit, but a client finally shows up: Mr. Davidson (John Elliott), a jeweller whose books are $50,000 short (he's just tried to pawn a pearl necklace he didn't own; the lender's suspicions have put the jeweller on the police's radar as well). He can finally pay Lola her back wages and invites her to a social affair that evening (only after calling a dozen other girls, though, and watching her get more and more irked!).

The fact that all of the film's principals *happen* to be attending the same party is awfully contrived, but we learn some background about Davidson's family. His daughter (Lois Wilson) was formerly married to Charles Ray, who was dismissed from Davidson's firm as a result of an earlier bookkeeping discrepancy. Lois has remarried Edward Earle, but her first husband shows up to the party and tries to woo her. Also attending is Detective McGinnis (James Burke), Ralph's former partner at the police station with whom he has quite the love-hate relationship. During the evening, Davidson gets bumped off and suspicion falls on several attendees. The tactics needed to find the murderer--as well as Graves' and Burke's quasi-affectionate sparring--are the focus of the remainder of the picture.

None of the characters are especially memorable or well-rounded, but they serve their purpose in keeping a suspenseful mood. All the performances are good, although at times you can tell that the cast deserved more meat to work with. I didn't think Ralph Graves and Lola Lane had that much chemistry; his character's sudden recognition of her beauty when not dressed as a secretary wasn't terribly convincing. Their relationship as a business team worked a lot better.

Lois Wilson was her usual good self as the shady daughter--she was 12 years older than Lola Lane but pretty much looked the same age. But the actor I was most looking forward to seeing (and hearing) was Charles Ray; I had never seen him in a talkie other than perhaps background bits in the early 40s. His voice was a mid-range tenor with really good diction and that surprised me a little, given the dozens of unsophisticated youths he had played earlier (somehow I imagined him sounding like Cliff Edwards). He had, for want of a better term, a great "movie face" that should have been used much more frequently than it was in the 30s. His slightly almond-shaped eyes were quite expressive and could have been used to good advantage in any number of films.

The print Alpha used had inevitably seen better days; there were a few missing frames here and there along with plenty of marks and scratches in most scenes. But it may not survive any other way, and I'm glad to have seen it. Also notable about the film is its creative use of transitions between scenes, using various shapes instead of standard horizontal wipes.

Overall rating: about **1/2 (of 4)

-Harold

[Hal Erickson]

But the actor I was most looking forward to seeing (and hearing) was Charles Ray; I had never seen him in a talkie other than perhaps background bits in the early 40s. His voice was a mid-range tenor with really good diction and that surprised me a little, given the dozens of unsophisticated youths he had played earlier (somehow I imagined him sounding like Cliff Edwards). He had, for want of a better term, a great "movie face" that should have been used much more frequently than it was in the 30s. His slightly almond-shaped eyes were quite expressive and could have been used to good advantage in any number of films.-Harold

From what I've read, Charles Ray cut his own throat so far as talkies were concerned. He'd made so many powerful enemies in the 1920s that when he was down and out, few were willing to give him a break. Compare this to Monte Blue, to whom Jack Warner was so loyal that he regularly listed Blue among his top contract players in the trade ads of the 1940s, even though most of his talkie parts at WB were unbilled bits.

[FrankFay]

From what I've read, Monte Blue was a particularly nice man and had many friends.

[Hal Erickson]

From what I've read, Monte Blue was a particularly nice man and had many friends.

Especially in Milwaukee, where Monte was front man for the annual Shrine Circus--and where he passed away, surrounded by friends, in 1963.