MURDER IN THE BLUE ROOM

US, 1944, 61 minutes, Black-and-white.
Anne Gwynne, Donald Cook, John Litel, Grace Mc Donald, Betty Kean, June Preisser, Regis Toomey, Ian Wolfe.
Directed by Leslie Goodwins.

There is a murder. There is a blue room. And there is a murder mystery. However, within a few minutes of the opening of the film, there is a song and dance routine – and there are quite number of these song and dance routines throughout the film in its brief 61 minutes.

A group of gathers to seeks together at a house for a party. There are suspicions about the host, his being the business partner of the murdered man and marrying his wife. There is a young woman who had been a singer, the wife’s daughter, her boyfriend, and his friend who is attracted to the singer. There is also a mysterious servant played by Ian Wolfe, a veteran of this kind of role (who even gets a song and dance role with the girls).

The dead man had died upstairs in the mansion, in the blue room, which had been sealed since his death. Some think it is time for it to be opened. The young man, in love with the daughter, volunteers to spend the night in the blue room unbeknownst to the others. In the morning, he has disappeared. The other suitor then offers to spend the next night in the room, despite the warnings of the police. He disappears but the body of the young man is found.

There are various sinister comings and goings.

But the sinister atmosphere is continually undermined by the presence of three young women, a singing and dance group who resemble the Andrew Sisters. They have been invited by their friend, the singer, to perform at the party. They do to enthusiastic applause.

However, when the investigations begin, the police summon them back to the mansion and interrogate them. Which doesn’t stop a few more song and dance routines – which are entertaining in the Andrew’s Sisters kind of way. But, they are under suspicion but have a lot of deadpan and corny humour to illustrate their characters and their responses, the most feisty one being the most afraid.

They decide to go into the room, discover a secret passage…

So, something of a mixum-gatherum of murder mystery and musical entertainment. Released during World War II.