Disembarking from the dirigible Hindenburg in New Jersey is the famous but reclusive Nobel Prize winning scientist, John J. Foster. Radio reporter Perry Travis follows Foster’s secretary, Lois Allen, hoping to get an interview with Foster. Perry arrives uninvited at Foster’s Long Island mansion just as a shot rings out. Foster is found dead at his desk, and Perry calls the police and scoops the story on the air. Later, Lois asks Perry to meet her at the Club Rendezvous, where he receives a threatening note, and she tells him that she saw Sir Conrad Stava going through Foster’s desk that night. Walter Emerson of the E. R. Shelby Chemical Co. then tries to bribe Perry to find a medical formula Foster had just completed. Back at the mansion, Perry learns that Foster created steel for munitions, and was a public enemy second only to Conrad, an unconscionable armaments maker. At the Shelby office, Perry also learns that Emerson is an imposter, whose real name is Earl Quillan. After Conrad visits Perry and his assistant, Brainy Barker, shots are fired through his window. The next morning, a listening device is found in Perry’s office. Back at the mansion, Perry arrives in time to save Lois, the butler, and E. J. Easton, Foster’s business manager, from being poisoned by gas when they are locked in the garage. After reading newspaper headlines proclaiming war fever, Perry realizes Quillan and Conrad were after a chemical to be used in warfare. That night, by reenacting the garage incident, Perry and Brainy deduce there was no danger because of a ventilator in the roof. While driving home, their car is forced off the road by Mike Sterling and Joel Balerino. Back at Perry’s apartment, Mike and Joel are waiting for Perry, but he escapes them, and they are caught with the help of a traffic policeman. Perry has Lois gather the suspects that night, demonstrating how the murderer created his alibi by arranging for a bullet cartridge to go off in the fireplace after Foster had already been killed with a silencer. Perry and Lois then reveal that Easton was planning to run away with Foster’s wife Norma. When Easton flees and pulls a gun, he is shot by police. Perry broadcasts his latest scoop, and also announces his engagement to Lois. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
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Alibi For Murder 1936 starring William Gargan and Marguerite Churchill. from IRA GALLEN on Vimeo.
