The Phantom of Crestwood

When a woman who has been blackmailing five wealthy men is murdered, each of them has to prove he did not do it. J. Walter Ruben’s seventy six minute film shuts the influential men she gathered around herself inside one house, and that same night a gangster and his crew break in as well, so the reckoning plays out behind closed doors with nobody trusting anybody. The strangest thing about the picture was how it was sold: RKO first had the script broadcast by NBC as a six part radio serial, cut the story off before naming the killer, and ran a cash prize contest inviting listeners to write their own endings. The film’s actual ending came from none of the entries. Ricardo Cortez and Karen Morley star.