Whispering City

A routine assignment to interview a famous actress takes newspaper reporter Mary Roberts (Mary Anderson) down a nightmarish alley of corruption and death. The actress, who is dying in the hospital after a violent car accident, tells Mary that she was imprisoned in an insane asylum for claiming that her husband was murdered. When her editor abruptly cancels the story, Roberts becomes determined to uncover the truth.

Her investigation leads to distraught composer Michel (Helmut Dantine) and his lawyer, Frederic (Paul Lukas). Frederic, a patron of the arts, holds a strange power over Michel.

After the mysterious suicide of Michel's wife, Mary suspects that Frederic is not only insane but that he has also been extorting and killing many of the city's artists. Mary's attempt to expose the homicidal maniac puts her life in grave jeopardy as Frederic senses that she knows too much.

Filmed at authentic locations in Canada by Russian director Fedor Ozep, Whispering City is anchored by Anderson's performance as an innocent coming to grips with insanity and murder. Only the complex portrait by Paul Lukas tops her, as he portrays a man whose evil is hidden by an unfathomable mask of benevolence and kindness.

• mystery