Directed by:
Fritz LangScreenplay:
Casey RobinsonCinematography:
Ernest LaszloComposer:
Herschel Burke GilbertCast:
Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders, Howard Duff, Thomas Mitchell, Vincent Price, Sally Forrest, John Drew Barrymore, James Craig, Ida Lupino (more)Plots(1)
Bedridden Amos Kyne is owner and manager of media conglomerate Kyne Enterprises. Upon Amos' death, his son, the ineffective Walter Kyne, takes control of the business. Not wanting to do any of the work but retain the glory, Walter creates a new position - Executive Director - that person who effectively will become head of the organization. The heads of the three primary arms of the business - John Day Griffith (newspaper), Mark Loving (wire service) and Harry Kritzer (photographic service) - are those in line for the job, each who will do whatever he needs to for the appointment. Walter has decided that whoever of the three solves and reports the Lipstick Killings first will get the position. The Lipstick Killings are the murders of young women, the murderer who scrawls a note in lipstick at the murder scene after the fact. Pulitzer Prize winning author and reporter Edward Mobley is seen by most to be the real brains of the organization, although he has no desire for the top job. Although he initially will not get into the internal fight for the job, Ed, who has connections to the police department and has his own thoughts as to the psychological profile of the killer, decides to assist his old friend, John Griffith, in solving the case. In their quest, those involved do not hesitate to use the women in their lives - namely Nancy Liggett (Ed's fiancée and Mark's secretary), Dorothy Kyne (Walter's wife), and Women's Affairs columnist Mildred Donner - in whatever manner they can. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Cosmo Sardo
USA
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
North by Northwest (1959)
Carleton Young
USA
Best movies:
North by Northwest (1959)
Spartacus (1960)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Celia Lovsky
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948)
The People Against O'Hara (1951)
Joe Devlin
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Scarlet Street (1945)
Pitt Herbert
USA
Best movies:
Hud (1963)
Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
The Trouble with Girls (1969)
Mickey Martin
USA
Best movies:
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Strike Up the Band (1940)
Joey Ray
USA
Best movies:
White Heat (1949)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Swing Time (1936)
Sayre Dearing
USA
Best movies:
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
All About Eve (1950)
Leonard Carey
UK
Best movies:
Gaslight (1944)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Rebecca (1940)
Ed Hinton
USA
Best movies:
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Samson and Delilah (1949)
The Man from Bitter Ridge (1955)
John Damler
USA
Best movies:
North by Northwest (1959)
Cimarron (1960)
The Tall Target (1951)