blanche-2 Kent Taylor, Linda Hayes, Lilian Bond, and Morgan Conway star in "Sued for Libel," another misnamed film, this one from 1939. There as a film starring Steve Cochran called "Slander" which should have been called "Libel," and now this one, which should have been called "Sued for Slander." Slander is the spoken word, libel is the print. One would think Hollywood would be more familiar with these terms.The film opens with Albert Pomeroy (Conway) on trial for murdering Edward Webster, his business partner. Webster's widow is standing behind him, swearing that he's innocent.The reporters are on hand waiting for the verdict, but the reporter who will phone the radio station that is re-enacting the trial, Smiley Dugan (Richard Lane) steps out for lunch. He asks another reporter, Maggie (Hayes) to call the station if a verdict comes in. Unfortunately for the station and the man who will announce the verdict, Steve Lonegan (Taylor), Smiley has been harassing Maggie all day. So when the verdict of not guilty comes in, she tells Steve it's guilty in order to get back at Smiley. The station is then wide open for a -- SLANDER -- suit.Lonegan figures if they can get something on Pomeroy, maybe an old crime he was never charged with or something, they can get off the hook. He hones in on the suicide of a young woman a few years back.A neat mystery, with rapid-fire dialogue, and a few magic tricks done by Lonegan, a magician on the side. Certainly not as bad as has been described in a couple of reviews here. Just the title is all wrong.

Ray Faiola This is a terrific RKO B, directed by sure-footed Leslie Goodwins. Aside from excellent performances (including one of Richard Lane's best as a REALLY fast-talking reporter), this picture has an ace radio dramatist who happens to dabble in magic on the side. Hmmmm...remind you of anybody?? Kent Taylor even shaved off his moustache to further pull off the Welles masquerade. A cute nod to the very popular Mercury Players, who were popular on CBS in 1939. The funny part is that Taylor works for a powerful publisher! Paging Mr. Hearst. Paging Mr. Kane. Talk about shades of things to come. Anyway, all that aside it's a fairly clever mystery and a great chance to see OLD DARK HOUSE's Lillian Bond go totally off her nut. And Thurston Hall has a wonderfully comic bit in the first reel. This is pure B-fluff, but if you enjoy great contract players doing their thing as they can only do it, you'll have fun with SUED FOR LIBEL.

Leslie Howard Adams RKO described this, to the exhibitors, as: "Bullet-swift action, spine-chilling thrills, seat-glueing suspense, breathless mystery, and a delightful, smartly-dialogued love affair---these are the highlights in this gripping triple murder drama laid against a newspaper and radio background. Revolving around three reporters, a murder suspect, and a mysterious widow, all of whom become enmeshed in a sequence of exciting events set in motion by a front-page murder trail, the story machine-guns to a thunderbolt climax that will leave audience gasping! It's an outstanding whodunit! And what a cast to make it live on your screen! RKO gave the audience: The trial of Albert Pomeroy (Morgan Conway) on the charge of murdering Edward Webster, which arouses interest because Webster's widow, Muriel (Lilian Bond)insists Pomeroy is innocent. Meanwhile, back to radio station NYEB, owned by the Evening Bulletin. Steve Lonegan (Kent Taylor) waits for a flash from Smiley Dugan (Richard Lane, insufferable as always)so he can broadcast the verdict---But Dugan leaves and asks reporter Maggie Dugan (Linda Hayes)to tip him off it something happens...and something happens when the jury comes in unexpectedly (as was always the case when a Richard Lane character is off doing whatever Lane characters went off to do when they were supposed to be doing something else)and this jury comes in with a "Not Guilty" verdict. But fun-loving Maggie, as a gag, phones Smiley and tells him Pomeroy was found guilty, and unreliable (as always) Smiley relays said information to Lonegan who tells a waiting world that Pomeroy was found guilty, signs off the air, locks up the station and goes home...and leaves the station wide open for a million-dollar libel suit.Lonegan and Colonel White (Thurston Hall) decide that the only out from paying Pomeroy a million bucks (in 1939 USA money, or about six trillion dollars in 2006 money)is to dig up something on Pomeroy that will force him to drop the suit, and the good Colonel dispatches Lonegan out to get this done, as no character ever played by bustery Thurston Hall was inclined to pay out money for anything, down to and including getting his shoes shined. So ace-digger Lonegan discovers that a former Pomeroy secretary, Stella Trent , had committed suicide three years earlier, and that a Dr. Bailer was involved. Lonegan (and Maggie) hotfoot it over to Bailer's office, and discover that Bailer has just recently had his throat cut and is more than a little bit dead. Then lawyer Justin Walsh drops by the Evening Bulletin and informs Steve and Colonel White that he has just learned that Pomeroy did indeed kill Webster (see opening trial notes), and he has withdrawn as Pomeroy's attorney. He cites Widow Webster as his source of this information,although, when least heard from, Widow Webster was proclaiming that Pomeroy was innocent. It gets a bit more complex as the frames slowly roll by and, ere long, Lonegan is riding in a car with the real killer but he is the only one in the cast of still-living characters and remaining audience members who doesn't know his car companion is the real killer.The last crew credit on the film reads..."Magic Sequences supervised by Hubert Brill,approved by the International Alliance of Magicians." No telling how that is now being reported.

David (Handlinghandel) This taut mystery, filmed just before "noir" began, is genuinely suspenseful. It has a wonderful jazzy rhythm.The scenes in which a radio show is being broadcast are fun and -- it seems -- accurate. Keye Luke is as always an asset, here as one of the radio players.Linda Hayes is a great, angular heroine, looking a bit like Katharine Hepburn. And Lillian Bond, in a crucial role, looks fabulous --especially with the wind blowing her hair in a convertible. She looks a little like Clara Bow and a lot like someone who could have been a star in the 1970-90s.Calling all cars: Be on the lookout for this little gem!