Whispering Footsteps (1943)

Clearly his parents had aspirations for their son "Marcus Aurelius" when they christened him, but sadly "Mark" (John Hubbard) has progressed little beyond a job as a bank clerk. His life is about to liven up though when he returns from holiday to find he is amidst a killing spree - and the photofits suggest the culprit is the spitting image of himself. Investigators duly arrive and when he fails to prove a conclusive alibi, it looks like "Det. Dolan" (Cy Kendall) has concluded that "Mark" is going to be toast! Now he has to ally himself with the practically-minded "Brook" (Rita Quigley) and try to find out just who is doing the murdering and leaving him to take the blame. It's not the greatest of mysteries this, but what is quite effective is the pervasively odious effect of small-minded gossip. The no smoke without fire mentality amongst the bored and the idle make his life ands his job all but impossible. The story is not really helped by the annoying, screaming, characterisation of "Rose" (Juanita Quigley) who sadly is not one of the victims, nor by the presence of the enigmatic "Helen" (Joan Blair) who has a few rather curious nocturnal habits. It's extremely wordy, too - endless, pointless chatting serves to slow down the pace before the conclusion that isn't half bad, but comes after what felt like quite a long slog. Nobody here leaps off the screen at us, but it passes an hour effortlessly enough.