Murder Is News

Radio gossip columnist Jerry Tracy breaks the shocking story of the infidelity and divorce of wealthy industrialist Edgar Drake. Jerry is invited to the millionaire's mansion for an even bigger story, but on arrival discovers that Drake has been murdered. The reporter investigates and seems to be getting close to the truth, because he now finds himself at the top of the killer's Hit List.

The third of four Columbia "B" movies based on the exploits of Theodore Tinsley's popular pulp-fiction newshound, Murder Is News has an effective leading man in John Gallaudet, a perennial character actor whose face was familiar to 1939 moviegoers. His clipped speech and breezy manner made him ideal for the role, which he reprised later that year in Manhattan Shakedown, the last Jerry Tracy mystery. Produced in Canada as part of a quota deal Hollywood studios made to secure bookings of American films in the U.K., Murder Is News exported director Leon Barsha and several cast members - including beautiful leading lady Iris Meredith - who worked alongside Canadian actors and crew members.

• mystery
• thriller