{"id":29480,"date":"2018-11-09T08:29:27","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=29480"},"modified":"2018-11-09T08:29:27","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T13:29:27","slug":"the-bootleg-files-murder-in-the-blue-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/09\/the-bootleg-files-murder-in-the-blue-room\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bootleg Files: Murder in the Blue Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 661:<\/strong> \u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d (1944 mystery-musical flick).<\/p>\n

LAST SEEN:<\/strong> On YouTube.<\/p>\n

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO:<\/strong> None.<\/p>\n

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS:<\/strong> It fell through the cracks.<\/p>\n

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE:<\/strong> Not likely at this time.<\/p>\n

During the 1940s, Universal Pictures arguably produced the most entertaining films playing in American theaters. This is not to say that Universal had the most artistically extravagant or intellectually provocative output. But for sheer pleasure viewing, this scrappy little studio was aces when it came to noir, Westerns, jukebox musicals, cheesy horror and lowbrow comedies. Back in the day, nobody ever left a Universal film feeling bored.
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Typical of the snappy output from Universal was a 1944 B-level flick called \u201cMurder in the Blue Room.\u201d This was actually a third version of a property that Universal owned for years: the 1932 German haunted house thriller \u201cGeheimnis des Blauen Zimmers,\u201d which Universal filmed as \u201cSecret of the Blue Room\u201d in 1933 and \u201cThe Missing Guest\u201d in 1938. Initially, Universal planned \u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d as a vehicle for the musical-comedy trio the Ritz Brothers. But that sibling act completed a three-picture deal with Universal in 1943 and were not interested in returning for another film.<\/p>\n

Without the Ritz Brothers, Universal was in a quandary. The studio had two other comedy teams under contract, Abbott and Costello and Olsen and Johnson, but each had their own haunted house film (\u201cHold that Ghost\u201d for Abbott and Costello and \u201cGhost Catchers\u201d for Olsen and Johnson), so it made no sense to repeat the formula. Rather than jettison a tried-and-true vehicle, Universal opted to create a new musical-comedy act \u2013 and in a twist on the standard practice, the studio decided to create a female team. (This was sort of odd, as Universal frequently used the Andrews Sisters in their films, but did that beloved trio was not tapped for this vehicle.)<\/p>\n

And, thus, \u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d saw the debut of the Three Jazzybelles, a distaff version of the Ritz Brothers who could sing, dance and wisecrack. Three Universal contract players \u2013 Grace McDonald, Betty Jean and June Preisser \u2013 were recruited and presented as this new act. Sadly, \u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d was also the swan song for the Three Jazzybelles \u2013 but this was due to lack of studio enthusiasm for its creation rather than for the act\u2019s perceived shortcomings. Indeed, the Jazzybelles were fun and put new life into the hoary old thriller.<\/p>\n

\u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d takes place in the suburban society settings that too many films of Hollywood\u2019s Golden Era presented: the wealthy environment where people attended parties in tuxedos and gowns, enjoyed champagne without getting drunk and managed to stay charming despite all sorts of tumult percolating about. In this case, the setting was a seaside manor where the charming young Nan (B-movie lovely Anne Gwynne) is the belle of a party hosted by her mother and stepfather. Nan\u2019s father died in the house years ago \u2013 he was found in a section of the residence known as the \u201cblue room,\u201d and his death was ruled a suicide even though there was suspicion it was murder.<\/p>\n

But Nan is not eager to let the past spoil her fun. A current boyfriend, intrepid writer Steve Williams (Donald Cook) and playboy ex-beau Larry Dearden (Bill Williams) are in attendance, and Larry gets Nan to sing a tune for the party guests. (Anne Gwynne was no singer and deft lip-synced to Martha Tilton\u2019s charming vocalizing.) The Jazzybelles are presented as Nan\u2019s pals, and they turn up to perform their own sassy musical number \u201cA Doo-Dee-Doo-Doo\u201d at the party.<\/p>\n

In a belated reminder that the film is supposed to be a haunted house flick, Larry volunteers to spend the night in the dreaded blue room, just to prove it is not haunted. Come the morning, Larry is nowhere to be found \u2013 which is odd because the room was locked from the inside. An obtuse and humorless police detective (Regis Toomey) arrives and suspects everyone, even though there is no evidence blaming everyone. Steve offers to spend the following night in the blue room, and he vanishes in the morning.<\/p>\n

So, who is responsible for Larry and Steve disappearing? Who\u2019s the guilty culprit? Is it Nan\u2019s mother or stepfather? Is it the creepy butler? Is it the family doctor who keeps hanging about when mayhem is afoot? Is it the Jazzybelles, or the odd derby-wearing ghost they keep seeing? <\/p>\n

Eh, who cares? Despite a surplus of shadows, creaky floorboards and suspicious characters, the solution to the mystery is an unremarkable conclusion that is not worth repeating her. But \u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d is less interesting as traditional mystery and more fun as a relic of the mid-1940s machinery that churned out fast, cocky and invigorating programmers designed to keep war-weary audiences amused for an hour and change. Anne Gwynne and her Jazzybelle pals were easy on the eyes (the Vera West gowns helped) and the musical numbers (including the Jazzybelles\u2019 spooky-camp \u201cThe Boogie Woogie Boogie Man\u201d) were happy nonsense. And the Jazzybelles generated some guilty-pleasure laughs with their urban-chic attitudes that quickly disappeared when ghosts and the threat of murder popped up. <\/p>\n

So why didn\u2019t Universal continue with the Jazzybelles? Well, \u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d was a B-level toss-away rather than a prestige film, and it didn\u2019t generate enough audience reaction to warrant an expansion into a standalone series. Rather than invest time and money in a new act, the studio disbanded the Jazzybelles as quickly as it created them. <\/p>\n

As a side note, the screenplay for \u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d was co-written by I.A.L. Diamond, who later collaborated with Billy Wilder on classics including \u201cSome Like it Hot\u201d and \u201cThe Apartment.\u201d This was his first credit as a screenwriter, and he obviously went upwards after getting his feet wet.<\/p>\n

\u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d was a staple on the movie shows broadcast by independent television channels in the 1970s, but it fell out of circulation since then. The film was never released in any home entertainment format, but unauthorized postings from 16mm prints can be found on YouTube<\/a>. While it is not a classic, by any stretch, the distracting joy that this little film gave to audiences back in the 1940s still shines through today.<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT NOTICE: While this weekly column acknowledges the presence of rare film and television productions through the so-called collector-to-collector market, this should not be seen as encouraging or condoning the unauthorized duplication and distribution of copyright-protected material, either through DVDs or Blu-ray discs or through postings on Internet video sites.
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\nListen to \u201cThe Online Movie Show with Phil Hall<\/a>\u201d on SoundCloud, now in its third season.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BOOTLEG FILES 661: \u201cMurder in the Blue Room\u201d (1944 mystery-musical flick). LAST SEEN: On YouTube. AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None. REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks. CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Not likely at this time. During the 1940s, Universal Pictures arguably produced the most entertaining films playing in American theaters. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":29481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513],"tags":[2126,700,703,2127,1886],"class_list":["post-29480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bootleg-files","tag-murder-in-the-blue-room","tag-musical","tag-mystery","tag-three-jazzybelles","tag-universal-pictures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29480"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29482,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29480\/revisions\/29482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}