The Phantom Of Crestwood (1932)

A playgirl (Karen Morley) plots to blackmail her rich and powerful ex-paramours at a posh soiree in a secluded mountain ranch. Instead, she is murdered and a gangster (Ricardo Cortez) suspecting the police will accuse him of the crime turns amateur detective to find the killer. Based on a radio serial which ended in a cliffhanger (this movie reveals the murderer) and directed by J. Walter Ruben (RIFFRAFF). A rather clunky murder mystery with only the murder victim interesting enough to hold our attention. She's killed at the thirty minute mark and seen only in flashbacks from then on. The murder suspects are a dull lot and the thug amateur detective is a turn off. I'm an easy mark for this kind of movie but even I found it tedious once the courtesan was bumped off. The acting (except for Karen Morley) is rigid. With Anita Louise, Pauline Frederick, H.B. Warner, Gavin Gordon, Hilda Vaughn and Matty Kemp.