Curtain at Eight Black & White Starring: Dorothy Mackaill, C. Aubrey Smith, Paul Cavanagh, Sam Hardy, Marion Shilling Before its absorption into the newly-formed 20th Century-Fox corporation in 1935, feisty little Majestic Pictures turned out quite a few impressive “B-plus” productions. One of the best and best-received was the “locked door” murder mystery, Curtain at Eight. Most of the action takes place at a Broadway theater, where a much-hated stage star (Paul Cavanaugh) is bumped off early in the proceedings. Crusty city detective Jim Hanvey (C. Aubrey Smith) and his dimwitted assistant Marty Gallagher (Sam Hardy) try to solve the crime before fast-talking reporter Terry Mooney (Russell Hopton) beats them to the punch. For a while, it looks as though the culprit is a trigger-happy chimpanzee, but a more orthodox suspect is fingered in the final reel. When it was shown on the MGM-controlled Loew’s Theater circuit, Curtain at Eight was retitled Backstage Mystery, to avoid confusion with MGM’s own Dinner at Eight. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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