Ted Simmons (Milton Williams) worms his way in to see the Editor (Bob Howard) of a newspaper, looking for a job as a reporter. The editor has had his fill of hot-shot reporters and tells Ted the story of his last know-it-all reporter Hal (George Oliver).
The editor said that Hal got involved with a nightclub singer named Lola (Nellie Hill). Lola was also involved with a piano player named Lewis (Pinky Williams) as well as a con named Mike (Bill Dillard). The editor sent Hal out to get a story at Bill Smith’s (Ken Renard) nightclub, where Lola worked. Instead, he went to see Lola. That happened to be the time that Mike escaped from prison and showed up at Lola’s place.
Lola and Mike decide to go over to Bill’s house to get a change of clothes for Mike, but Bill and his wife Mary (Ruth Cobbs) are out at a costume party. Hal is hiding in the closet and overhears all this. He decides to tell Bill, a former police detective, that Mike is on his way. Bill’s secretary (Marjorie Oliver) tells Hal where Bill lives. Hal is hoping to get Mike caught and put back in jail so that he will be able to see Lola again. Things don’t go as planned.
“Murder with Music” was released in 1948 and was directed by George P. Quigley. It is a murder mystery musical and an American race film. I’ve seen the release date for the film as 1941 and 1945. Reportedly, the movie was originally a film called “Mistaken Identity”, although whether or not that film was ever released is up for debate. The film was chopped up and much of it reused for “Murder with Music” as flash back sequences, and parts were again used for a short called “Bob Howard’s House Party”.
The film was produced by white film producer Alfred N. Sack. His company, Sack Amusement Enterprises, was one of the few companies that produced what were called race films. These were films geared for black audiences and where the cast was all or mostly black.
The movie isn’t all that great, but if you like forties style jazz music you’ll find a nice selection here. Some of the music was performed by Noble Sissle and his orchestra and a song, “Can’t Help It”, sung by nightclub singer Nellie Hill as well as Skippy Williams and his band. Included in the film is singer Bob Howard. In 1948, Howard hosted The Bob Howard Show which aired on CBS. He was the first black to host a regularly broadcast television network show. The program only lasted thirteen episodes.
The murder doesn’t happen until the last two minutes of the film. Before that it’s all song and dance and bad acting. The main mystery is not who-done-it, but when’s the murder gonna happen.
The character “Hal” was played by George Bodine Oliver. Oliver was born in 1919, in Chicago Illinois. He fought in WWII and was a Tuskegee Airman. He was also a professor of dramatic literature at Nassau Community College. His mother, Mabel, was white, and his father, George, was black. Oliver was raised black. In those days there was no biracial designation. Mabel gave up her “whiteness” when she entered into an interracial marriage and was disowned by her white family. Oliver’s wife Marjorie has a part in the film as a secretary.