Danger Signal (1945)

Living with her mother and her younger sister Anne Fenchurch who is currently recovering from tuberculosis at a sanitarium, Hilda Fenchurch is a Los Angeles based public stenographer and notary, with some of her most loyal clients from the local college, such as Dr. Jane Silla, a psychiatrist, and Dr. Andrew Lang, a biochemist. While Hilda would like romance in her life, she, hiding behind her desk and work glasses, is unaware that shy Dr. Lang is interested in her romantically. Hilda is against her mother's plan, solely in a move to help with the housing crisis, to rent out their spare room, that is until Hilda meets the first interested party, a young man named Ronald Mason, an ex-serviceman and now struggling writer. The Fenchurches, who do end up renting the room to Ronnie, are captivated by their new boarder, Hilda who is able to convince her mother not to bother Ronnie with rent payment until he is able to sell a story or two to get on his feet. In the process, Hilda and Ronnie fall in love and secretly become engaged. When Anne returns home, she too, despite seeing that Hilda is interested him, falls for Ronnie, he stringing both sisters along. While Hilda may end up being a little more aware of Ronnie's true nature than naive and love struck Anne, Hilda is not aware of the full extent of Ronnie's story. While he is a writer, he is not an ex-serviceman, but makes his way through life as a fortune hunter, wooing women to bilk them of their money. He turned his attention to Anne upon learning that she would come into a $25,000 inheritance upon marrying. In turn, Ronnie may not be aware of his most recent past on his tail. While his last victim, married Alice Turner who he ended up murdering before taking her money, was officially declared a suicide victim, the police are secretly looking for him as a suspect in her death, as Alice's husband, Thomas Turner, believing the police doing nothing about Alice in her case being officially closed, has thoughts of revenge on his mind.