Lola Carewe (Mayo Methot) is the owner of the nightclub “Lola’s”. Lola has been receiving anonymous messages threatening her life. It’s New Year’s Eve and Lola is expected to be at her club. Paranoid she stalks her apartment and even looks at her servants Eunice (Greta Granstedt) and Mura (Teru Shimada) as if they are out to get her. She tries to keep everything from her mother (Blanche Friderici) but Mrs. Carewe knows something is wrong. Lola’s friend, Vincent Rowland (Albert Conti) shows up to take her to the club. Vincent is aware of the cryptic letters Lola has been getting. He suggests she stay home tonight. Lola insists on going to the club.
Lola’s is full of partiers waiting for midnight. Among them are Police commissioner Thatcher Colt (Adolphe Menjou) and his friend, the perpetually drunk, Tony (Richard ‘Skeets’ Gallagher). Colt can see Lola and Vincent at a balcony table reserved for her. Colt is proficient at reading lips and can see Lola and Vincent discussing the threats to her life. Colt goes over to Lola’s table and introduces himself. Colt is discussing with Lola the threats to her life when he sees a hand with a gun in it come out through a curtained doorway and aimed at Lola. He pushes her out of the way as the gun goes off.
This is enough for Colt. He takes Lola back to her apartment and has six cops assigned to watch over her. The latest note said that she would die by midnight. As the hour approaches Colt puts Lola on a chair and positions the other cops on chairs surrounding her. As the clock strikes twelve Lola jumps up, screams, and falls dead on the floor. Dr. Emil Lengle (Wilhelm von Brincken) is called. He says she had a heart attack and tries to give her a shot of adrenalin. With no success he pronounces her dead. Now Colt must not only figure out who wanted Lola dead, but why and how it was done.
“The Night Club Lady” was released in 1932 and was directed by Irving Cummings. It is an American pre-Code mystery. The movie is based on the story “About the Murder of the Nightclub Lady” by Anthony Abbot. It was followed by a sequel called “The Circus Queen Murder” 1933 which also featured Adolphe Menjou as the character, Thatcher Colt. A third Thatcher Colt film was done in 1942 called “The Panther’s Claw”. This time the Thatcher Colt character was played by Sidney Blackmer.
The method of murder is a little out there but, other than that, it was a nice murder mystery. I would have liked to have seen more Ruthelma Stevens as Miss Kelly but considering it is her first film I’ll have to be content with what there is of her.
Mayo Methot was Humphrey Bogart’s third wife. They were married from August 1938 to May 1945. Bogart married Lauren Bacall after their divorce. The marriage between Methot and Bogart was tumultuous. It is said that Bogart suffered from battered husband syndrome due to their relationship. Methot was an alcoholic with a violent temper. She died of alcoholism in a cheap hotel room. Her body wasn’t discovered for several days.