Take the Stand (DVD)

Gossip columnist George Gaylord throws New York high society into a frenzy every time he does a radio broadcast. His exposes have made him the enemy of everyone from popular singers to gang bosses. The public gasps in anticipation when Gaylord promises to reveal the Big Apple's biggest secret on his next program. But before the muckraker can finish, he is shot by an unseen assailant. Now district attorney Bill Hamilton faces the most sensationalistic trial the city has ever seen. Every one of Gaylord's enemies had reasonable motive. But the real culprit may be someone Hamilton never would have suspected.

Take the Stand's murder victim, George Gaylord, was a takeoff on real life gossip columnist Walter Winchell. Tragically, star Thelma Todd would be dead herself a year after the film's release, the cause of which is still debated to this day. The blonde comedienne is best known for appearing alongside the Marx Brothers in Monkey Business (1931) and Horse Feathers (1932), as well as Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante in Speak Easily (1932). Jack La Rue was an iconic "tough guy" actor, often mistaken for Humphrey Bogart, who appeared in scores of detective and gangster pictures. Despite this, one of his most memorable roles was when he was cast against type as a priest in A Farewell to Arms (1932).

• mystery
• thriller