Destination Murder
- IMDb link: 0042394
- IMDb rating: 6.1 (1,073 votes)
- Genres: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
- Director: Edward L. Cahn
- Cast: Albert Dekker, Hurd Hatfield, Joyce Mackenzie, Stanley Clements and others
- Release date: 9 Jun 1950
- Release year: 1950
- Runtime: 72 minutes
- Country: United States
- Keywords: murder, schemer, double feature film, damsel in distress, anger, grindhouse film, singer, police, nightclub, messenger
Plot:
One evening, a man rings the doorbell to the Los Angeles home of businessman Arthur Mansfield, and learning that the person answering the door is indeed Arthur Mansfield, proceeds to shoot him point blank dead before he is able to escape. What the people behind the killing were probably unaware of was the fact of Mansfield having a young adult daughter, Laura Mansfield, who was home on a break from her east coast schooling, she catching a brief glance from a distance of the shooter, a man wearing a Blue Streak messenger uniform, and the getaway vehicle. The murder investigation, led by Lieutenant Brewster, has Mansfield's chief competitor, Frank Niles, at the top of the suspect list, and while initially agreeing with that assessment, Laura, who decides to investigate on her own using her feminine wiles to her advantage, begins to believe otherwise, she pretty certain the shooter being Jackie Wales, an actual Blue Streak messenger, despite what seems to be his airtight alibi. But Laura is also certain that someone was pulling the strings behind Jackie, and following the crumbs he leaves behind, he ends up leading her to the Vogue nightclub. As she has to hide the fact that she followed those crumbs from Jackie, she becomes equally as certain who orchestrated the murder was the club's owner, Armitage, while she hopes that the club's manager, Stretch Norton, had nothing to do with it as a mutual attraction begins to develop between the two. As Laura has to find conclusive evidence as to Armitage's involvement, the situation becomes more complicated with Alice Wentworth, Armitage's girl - a proverbial dame - trying to muscle in on the action both in wanting her share of whatever money is floating around, and wanting to be Stretch's girl, not Armitage's.