Dr. Ernst Einfeld (Lee Kohlmar) is a visiting astronomer giving a lecture for invited guests at the Forest Park Planetarium. Dr. Einfeld is talking in the dark hall about a star called Arcturus. Everyone is looking up at the display of stars reflected on the planetarium ceiling. Suddenly a shot rings out. The lights come up and people begin to move toward the exit. A scream is heard. One of the guests, Dr. Stone, is found dead, still in his chair.
. Detective Lt. Ted Mallory (Russell Hopton) and Detective Regan (Lew Kelly) are summoned by the head of the observatory, Professor Trowbridge (John St. Polis) to take charge of the case. Mallory has everyone leave so they can process the room and remove the body. Trowbridge assures Mallory that no one left the room after the shot. The elderly watchman, Jim Gray (George F. Marion) was at the door the whole time.
. Once the body is removed everyone is instructed to return to the seats they were in before the murder. During questioning Mallory finds out that everyone was an invited guest except one man. He is Ahmad Haidru (John Davidson). Ahmad denies knowing Stone but Stone's secretary, Clay Gorman (Cornelius Keefe) says he heard them arguing earlier and that Ahmad threatened to kill Stone. Ahmad is held in custody until Mallory can get all the facts.
. Mallory’s investigation turns up more than expected. Dr. Trowbridge’s assistant, Langsdale (Wheeler Oakman) is an ex-con who changed his name after he got out of jail for attempted murder. Ahmad admits he had planned on killing Stone but someone beat him to it. Mallory also has reporter, Kay Palmer (Lola Lane) to deal with. She happened to be in the planetarium working on a story when the murder happened. She is now nosing around for more scoops. She ends up making up a story that Dr. Einfeld has information on who the murderer is, thus putting the doctor’s life in danger. Mallory must keep Einfeld safe while baiting a trap for the murderer.
. “Death From A Distance” was released in 1935 and was directed by Frank R. Strayer. It is a low budget American murder mystery. It was the first feature film broadcast on commercial television in the U.S. It aired in New York City on NBC in 1941.
. While the story is standard the location is not. You have a snarky yet adorably spunky female reporter and a standard no nonsense detective who is smitten but has a job to do. His assistant is dumb as nails and easily manipulated. The cast of suspects are mostly red herrings and the killer is a surprise at the end. The fact that it takes place in a room full of people at a planetarium/observatory instead of an old dark house is different. Of course in 1935 just about all of it was new. The plot acting and dialogue are all decent and add to the film’s enjoyment. The print is a little old but that’s to be expected.
. Some of the props used came from the 1936 film “The Invisible Ray”.