The Lady in the Morgue (1938)
Directed by Otis Garrett and based on the novel by Jonathan Latimer, The Lady in the Morgue is a brisk, twist-filled crime mystery that was part of Universal Pictures’ Crime Club series—a set of B-movie adaptations of pulp detective novels. Released on April 22, 1938, the film blends hard-boiled detective work with a surreal morgue mystery, all wrapped in a snappy 67-minute runtime.
Plot Summary
Detective Bill Crane (Preston Foster) is assigned to identify the body of a young blonde woman found dead in a hotel. But when the corpse mysteriously disappears from the morgue and the morgue attendant is murdered, Crane finds himself at the center of a tangled web involving gangsters, missing persons, and a grieving brother searching for his sister.
As Crane digs deeper, he’s squeezed by rival criminals, misled by false identities, and forced to untangle a case that’s more psychological than procedural. The film keeps viewers guessing with multiple subplots and red herrings, culminating in a fast-paced resolution that ties the threads together with noir flair.
Cast Highlights
- Preston Foster as Det. Bill Crane
- Patricia Ellis as Kathryn Courtland (aka Mrs. Sam Taylor)
- Frank Jenks as Doc Williams (Crane’s wisecracking sidekick)
- Thomas E. Jackson as Lt. Strom
- Wild Bill Elliott as Chauncey Courtland
- Roland Drew, Barbara Pepper, and Joe Downing in supporting roles
Behind-the-Scenes Trivia
- This was the third film in Universal’s Crime Club series, which adapted up to four novels per year from the popular pulp publisher
- Much of the opening score was borrowed from Franz Waxman’s iconic music for The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
- The film was televised as early as 1946, making it one of the first Universal B-pictures to air on postwar television stations like WABD in New York
- Universal’s Crime Club deal was a creative marketing tie-in, reflecting the studio’s efforts to recover from financial strain after the Laemmle family’s departure
