Danger on the Air

1938 "A Murder Mystery Chiller-Diller!"
6.3| 1h10m| NR| en
Details

Trouble begins when a hated cad of a sponsor is found murdered during the climax of a live radio show. A radio engineer then tries to solve the murder.

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Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
gridoon2018 This is a likable little murder mystery - and I mean that literally: even counting a trigger-happy gangster and a loudmouthed boss, the murder victim is still by far the most unlikable person in the film (and, needless to say, gets an early exit)! There are so many characters in this dense mystery that you may need to watch it twice to get it all straight in your head, but even that won't take up too much of your time, as the film is barely over an hour long and moves quickly enough. And there are at least three fairly unique elements in it: 1) The killing method (which I don't want to spoil here), 2) The fact that, when our amateur detective assembles all the suspects in one room at the end he does NOT know who the murderer is, he only knows how he did it, and how to expose him, and 3) Nan Grey deals with the unwanted advances of a much older man in a way that you very rarely see in such an early film: by a strong punch to his gut! (though the actual contact happens off-screen). **1/2 out of 4.
csteidler Nan Grey and Donald Woods banter appealingly, and the unique personalities of an excellent range of suspects contribute strongly to this really fun mystery. Wit, characters, a clever murder—all tucked into a tidy hour.Berton Churchill, as radio sponsor and cola magnate Caesar Kluck, spends the first fifteen minutes of the picture insulting virtually everyone in this large metropolitan radio studio; it is no surprise when he is found dead. But who is responsible? Motives, opportunities and suspects abound.Churchill is wonderfully bad and blustery in his brief role. A young Lee J. Cobb is a lot of fun playing an aged maintenance man in a mustache and a thick immigrant's accent.However, Grey and Woods are the two who really make this show, with their confident performances and quick exchanges of snappy back-and-forth dialog. "Did you really find her fingerprints on it?" she asks at one point. "No," he replies, "but I could see she was lying and I wanted to trip her up." "Boy, are you some tripper-upper!"Seventy minutes and not a dull moment.
kevin olzak Universal's Crime Club series lasted 7 films from 1937 to 1939, of which "Danger on the Air" was number 4, the last to co-star Donald Woods and Nan Grey, previously seen in the second, "The Black Doll" (also 1938). Lecherous sponsor Caesar Kluck (Berton Churchill) dies during a live radio broadcast, with hard working engineer Benjamin Franklin Butts (Woods) deducing murder from poison gas, and Kluck's physician, Leonard Sylvester (Edward Van Sloan), insisting it was a heart attack. The ventilating system has clearly been tampered with, and a persistent gangster (Joseph Downing) was also hanging around, plus the station janitor (Lee J. Cobb), who was angered by Kluck's advances toward his young daughter (Louise Stanley). The adorable and capable Nan Grey gets top billing over Donald Woods this time, but he again solves the case. Also on hand are William Lundigan, George Meeker, Tom Kennedy, and a young Peter Lind Hayes, future songwriter and TV personality, doing a variety of impressions like Bing Crosby (he also name drops Rudy Vallee). All of the Crime Clubs are quite entertaining, and the final three were included in the popular SHOCK! package of classic Universal horror films issued to television in the late 50's ("The Last Warning," "Mystery of the White Room," and "The Witness Vanishes"). Only "The Black Doll" and "Mystery of the White Room" were shown on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, so it was many years before I discovered the other five in the brief series, lesser known than the Inner Sanctums but in some ways superior. The next Crime Club would be "The Last Warning."
Vigilante-407 This little gem is one of the most well-scripted programmers that I have ever had the pleasure to watch. The acting is great too, and you also manage to work in one of those rare mysteries that makes it hard but fun to guess who the killer is. It's all set at a radio station, where a crotchety old sponsor ends up getting murdered. Donald Woods plays a very intelligent and clever radio engineer and Nan Woods is the ad agency worker who helps him solve the mystery. I know the storyline sounds all old-hat, but I was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing this movie was...a very enjoyable hour!