The Preview Murder Mystery
SCREEN STAR MURDERED! All Hollywood Thrown in an Uproar!
1936 | 60m | English
Popularity: 0.4 (history)
| Director: | Robert Florey |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Brian Marlow, Garnett Weston, Robert Yost |
| Staring: |
| Someone is murdering the cast and crew of a new Hollywood movie, and the leading lady may be next. As a police detective locks down the lot and refuses to let anyone leave, the studio’s publicity head and his secretary attempt to solve the murders themselves. | |
| Release Date: | Feb 28, 1936 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Robert Florey |
| Writer: | Brian Marlow, Garnett Weston, Robert Yost |
| Genres: | Mystery, Thriller |
| Keywords | movie business, behind the scenes |
| Production Companies | Paramount Pictures |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Jan 30, 2026 Entered: Apr 30, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Frances Drake | Peggy Madison |
| Reginald Denny | Johnny Morgan |
| Gail Patrick | Claire Woodward |
| George Barbier | Jerome Hewitt |
| Ian Keith | E. Gordon Smith |
| Rod La Rocque | Neil Du Beck |
| Conway Tearle | Edwin Strange |
| Thomas E. Jackson | Detective McKane |
| Jack Raymond | George Tyson |
| Colin Tapley | Studio Manager |
| Jack Mulhall | Jack Rawlins |
| Bryant Washburn | Karl Jennings |
| Franklyn Farnum | James Deley |
| Lee Shumway | Chief of Police |
| Spencer Charters | Jones - Watchman |
| Chester Conklin | Comedian |
| Hank Mann | Comedian |
| William Arnold | Theatre Manager (Uncredited) |
| William Bailey | Studio Commissary Chief (Uncredited) |
| Bobby Barber | Prop Man (Uncredited) |
| George Barton | Technician (Uncredited) |
| Sidney Bracey | Du Beck's Valet (Uncredited) |
| Henry Brandon | The Bat Man (Uncredited) |
| Bob Card | Cowboy (Uncredited) |
| F.O. Collings | Sound Man (Uncredited) |
| Nell Craig | Woman in Preview Audience (Uncredited) |
| Lester Dorr | Reporter (Uncredited) |
| Eddie Dunn | Tub Wilson (Uncredited) |
| Estelle Etterre | Hewitt's Secretary (Uncredited) |
| Matty Fain | Reporter (Uncredited) |
| Hyman Fink | Photographer (Uncredited) |
| John George | The Gnome (Uncredited) |
| Chuck Hamilton | Policeman (Uncredited) |
| Edward Hearn | Officer (Uncredited) |
| Isabel La Mal | Woman in Preview Audience (Uncredited) |
| Frank Losee Jr. | Assistant Manager (Uncredited) |
| Wilfred Lucas | Director (Uncredited) |
| Carl McBride | Still Photographer (Uncredited) |
| Philo McCullough | Policeman (Uncredited) |
| Torben Meyer | Briggs - Smith's Butler (Uncredited) |
| Frances Morris | Script Girl (Uncredited) |
| Jack Norton | Comedy Director (Uncredited) |
| Paddy O'Flynn | Assistant Director (Uncredited) |
| Franklin Parker | Cutter (Uncredited) |
| Jack Paul | Newsboy (Uncredited) |
| Earl Pingree | Officer (Uncredited) |
| Ralph Rainger | Himself (Uncredited) |
| Craig Reynolds | Actor (Uncredited) |
| Charles Ruggles | Himself (Uncredited) |
| Dick Rush | Detective (Uncredited) |
| Ed Schaefer | Detective (Uncredited) |
| Ferdinand Schumann-Heink | English Officer (Uncredited) |
| Charles L. Sherwood | Jovial Cop (Uncredited) |
| Phillips Smalley | Ben (Uncredited) |
| Claude Stroud | Monk Gibbons (Uncredited) |
| Hatto Tappenbeck | Cameraman (Uncredited) |
| Monte Vandergrift | Watchman (Uncredited) |
| Luz Vasquez | Dancer (Uncredited) |
| Larry Wheat | Supervisor (Uncredited) |
| Neil Wheeler | Boom Man (Uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Brian Marlow | Screenplay |
| Garnett Weston | Story |
| James Smith | Editor |
| John Cope | Sound Recordist |
| Robert Yost | Screenplay |
| Hans Dreier | Art Direction |
| A. Earl Hedrick | Art Direction |
| Richard Harlan | Assistant Director |
| A. E. Freudeman | Interior Designer |
| A.W. Singley | Sound Recordist |
| Karl Hajos | Additional Music |
| Howard Jackson | Additional Music |
| Robert Florey | Director |
| Karl Struss | Director of Photography |
| Chuck Hamilton | Stunts |
| Jack Stoney | Stunts |
| Heinz Roemheld | Additional Music |
| Adolph Zukor | Presenter |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Harold Hurley | Producer |
| Edward F. Cline | Associate Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 2024 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| 2024 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| 2024 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 1 |
| 2024 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 2024 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| 2024 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2025 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Trending Position
Rod Laroque ("DuBeck") has been getting threatening letters as he tries to conclude a film shoot at Paramount. Nobody is much surprised as he is a bit of a pain in the neck, but when the unthinkable does happen it falls to Reginald Denny ("Johnny Morgan") to get to the bottom of things. He'd better ... get a move on, because it is soon pretty clear that the killer has a vendetta against the entire cast! The investigation itself is fairly formulaic, but it has the added interest of showing us much of the behind-the-scenes aspects of life in Hollywood and of those on the sound stages. Director Robert Florey has used his budget quite creatively here - the action is pretty much constant, either relating to the search for the killer, or to the making of the feature. The, admittedly wordy, dialogue is not without some plausibly fun digs at the film-making process and at the real-life legends involved in front of and behind the camera. The story itself is really neither here nor there, but it is an entertaining mix of fact and fiction that though fairly predicable, still pitches a decent, workmanlike, cast and I quite enjoyed watching it.