The Murder Man
Steve Grey, reporter for the Daily Star, has a habit of scooping all the other papers in town. When Henry Mander is investigated for the murder of his shady business partner, Grey is one step ahead of the police to the extent that he often dictates his story in advance of its actual occurrence. He leads the police through an 'open and shut' case resulting in Mander being tried, convicted and sentenced to death. Columnist Mary Shannon is in love with Steve but she sees him struggle greatly with his last story before Mander's execution. When she starts typing out the story from his recorded dictation, she realizes why.
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- Cast:
- Spencer Tracy , Virginia Bruce , Lionel Atwill , Harvey Stephens , Robert Barrat , James Stewart , William Collier Sr.
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Reviews
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Sick Product of a Sick System
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Murder Man, The (1935) *** (out of 4) Very good "B" movie from MGM has Spencer Tracy playing newspaper reporter Steve Grey who has the nickname of "The Murder Man" due to him being able to crack any case. The latest big story deals with a murdered insurance man who appears to have been killed by his partner (Harvey Stephens) but he claims he's innocent and the majority of the evidence from the police captain (Lionel Atwill) really doesn't tie him to the events. THE MURDER MAN looks like it was a rushed job and there's no question not too much money went into it but the cast, story and direction make it a must see and it's really a gem that should be better known. The greatest aspect is certainly the cast as we get veterans like Tracy, Atwill and Virginia Bruce but we also get a small role played by James Stewart. I'm sure a number of lesser actors could have been handed this role but it's quite easy to see that they wouldn't have brought as much to it as Tracy. Tracy has that terrific ability to make acting look easy but the role here was a pretty difficult one because he's character is dealing with alcohol abuse as well as other issues. Tracy does a remarkable job at showing off all of these emotions and while this certainly isn't as great as many of his future roles, the actor really gives it his all and delivers a memorable performance. Bruce is also very good in her role as the girlfriend and the two have some nice chemistry together. I was also quite impressed with Stephens who manages to be quite cocky early in the film and the actor really gets to shine towards the end when he's cracking from about to hit the chair. Stewart doesn't have a very big role but he does what he can with it. I love watching legends before they were stars and here's the perfect example because it's not everyday you can see someone like Stewart playing such a role. Tracy and Stewart share a couple scenes together, which will certainly please film buffs. The story itself is a pretty strong one and when the final twist happens you can't help but feel good that the film would stick to its gun and go for the shock instead of dealing some weak, lame attempt to make everything happy.
Steve Grey (Spencer Tracy) is the best homicide newspaper journalist in the city: they call him "the Murder Man." If there's a murder, he'll get all the inside information, and he'll have it on the press first. That he always succeeds despite a debilitating weakness for alcohol is considered by colleagues simply a part of his genius. In the killing of investment broker (read: con artist) James Spencer Halford – snipered in a car from a streetside shooting gallery – Grey is once again on the frontline, with an uncanny knack for reporting murder details before even the police know them. Grey plays the story from both sides, as a pivotal witness in the murder case against Henry Mander, the victim's business associate, and as a reporter ostensibly reporting the unbiased facts (intriguingly, it's a two-way street, since Grey often twists the facts to his advantage). This MGM drama, which I had expected to be as grim as the similarly- themed 'Crime Without Passion' with Claude Rains, is surprisingly light- hearted in tone for the most part. Particular amusement is provided by the lanky young form of Jimmy Stewart, boasting a cheerful cockeyed grin in his feature debut. Jimmy's first ever words in a prolific movie career? "Hi, Joe!"
Spencer Tracy is the title character. He is a newspaper's ace crime reporter in this very good movie that could have been great.I've read quite a lot about Tracy's life. The character he plays seems to have many traits and behavioral patterns in common with the real Spencer Tracy, who was apparently a far darker person than many of the benevolent roles he played.This moves along at a good clip. At times it's upsetting, at others it's exciting.Virginia Bruce is the lonely-hearts columnist at the paper. She has crush on Tracy but he has secrets and a past that have kept him from allowing a relationship to develop. (A couple years earlier, before the Code, it well might have developed anyway.) Bruce was a beautiful woman, with a poignant, ethereal quality. Here, however, she is unflatteringly costumed, made-up, and/or lit. She comes across more as a mannish, dowdy old maid schoolteacher than the romantic leading lady she was."Fury" is not a sunny movie, to say the least. This is another movie that shows a different Tracy we know from his two 1930s Oscar-winning roles, the collaborations with Katharine Hepburn, and "Father of the Bride" and its sequel.The very darkest of all his movies, however, is "The People Against O'Hara." I consider that one a classic. This is not quite a classic but it's unique and gripping.
Two financiers and swindlers get theirs when one is shot and killed and the other is accused and tried for the crime in this early, somewhat creaky film from the 1930's. The film has at its core the story of one newspaperman's spiral into drunkenness as the wife he once had has died and his father has lost all his savings to said swindlers. Spencer Tracy plays the newspaperman as only he can essay any role: with complete conviction and enormous talent. While this film is not great, it is a solid film on all fronts and has an intriguing conclusion. I enjoyed the look at what newspapers were like back then, the relationship to police that reporters had, and the wonderful character acting with the likes of Lionel Atwill, a young Jimmy Stewart, Virginia Bruce, William Demarest, and Robert Barrat as a hounding editor. Sure, lots of the journalism clichés are used here, but let's remember that for its time they were a lot fresher than they are now. Director Tim Whelan is solid behind the camera and manages to give Tracy(with his help) and Bruce some depth. The mystery isn't too hard to figure out, but the way it was handled was what struck me as somewhat inventive.