Watched a pretty good HD version of this. I am no expert, just like to watch old films. But I wouldn't call it film noir. It is quite an enjoyable mystery and it's interesting to see 50s LA and Hollywood. I'm not familiar with silent era actors who appeared in this movie but was pleasantly surprised when Joel McCrae appeared. Recommend it for sure and hope it gets more exposure.

This film truly is a Hollywood story, employing real actors from the silent period and filmed on real locations throughout Hollywood and Los Angeles. There are views of buildings up and down Hollywood Blvd., including Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Roosevelt Hotel, Charlie Chaplin Studios on La Brea Ave., the Sunset Strip, Universal Studios, and the Hollywood Christmas Parade. It appears that more silent film stars shot cameos than actually made it into the film, but it still salutes and highlights the early days of Hollywood. Art direction is top notch, the acting is fine, and the story is really entertaining. The mystery is well thought out and keeps you guessing until the end. This is much more serious and top notch than the typical William Castle film.

Saw this movie as a kid, watching " The Late Show, " which was always a great old b/w movie. Years later, read about the murder of William Desmond Taylor and thought this hit awfully close to home. Taylor was a director of some note in early Hollywood, but also known to be quite the ladies' man. He was murdered in his apartment and the case was never officially solved. After his murder, the career of Mary Miles Minter, a well known Hollywood starlet was pretty much in ruins, due to several pieces of her personal belongings found at the scene of the crime, which is interesting, as studio bigwigs were called to the apartment before the police were called. Also interesting was the rumor that his now missing valet / butler / chauffeur was in reality his brother. The deceased Tayor was not who he appeared to be - he had long before abandoned a wife and child and re-invented himself. Years later, the famed Hollywood director King Vidor became interested in the mystery and worked on it for some years. His efforts were detailed in a book called " A Cast Of Killers, " well worth the read.

I got this film because I like 40s/50s mysteries, because I like Richard Conte, and because it was directed by William Castle and thus HAD to be interesting. Actually, it is an excellent little mystery. New York-based producer Conte comes out to LA to make some films and rents an old studio building that hasn't been used since the silent era (which was only 22 years ago at the time of this film). The last year of silents, 1929, a major silent director was killed at the studio, and the case has never been solved. Conte decides to research the director and the murder for a film plot--he digs up a few of the people who worked at the studio and learns more about the mystery... while a new mystery starts to develop and the guilty party from 1929 starts to cause trouble again. It's as cleverly plotted as the best Columbo or Perry Mason episode, and Conte as always is powerful and sympathetic. He was one of the great post-WWII stars and his work should be revived today--watch THE BROTHERS RICO sometime! Great supporting cast with Jim Backus, Richard Egan, the lovely Julie Adams, and silent star and 30s independent-film regular William Farnum. It's always good to be pleasantly surprised by a film that delivers much more than you expected, and this is such a nice little mystery. It's not on video or DVD, but keep your eye out for it.