The Deceiver (film)

For other uses, see Deceiver.

The Deceiver
Broadway
Directed by	Louis King
Written by	Jack Cunningham Abem Finkel (story)
Starring	Lloyd Hughes Ian Keith Dorothy Sebastian
Cinematography	Joseph Walker
Edited by	Gene Havlick
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	November 21, 1931 (1931-11-21)
Running time	66 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Deceiver is a 1931 American Pre-Code mystery film directed by Louis King. The film stars Lloyd Hughes, Ian Keith and Dorothy Sebastian. John Wayne makes a minor appearance as a corpse. The film premiered on November 21, 1931.

Plot overview

Actor Reginald Thorpe is found dead in his dressing room, stabbed in the back. Suspects abound. Most of The Deceiver takes place in the Broadway theater where matinee idol Thorpe (Ian Keith) is starring in a production of Othello. A rat with women, Thorpe has scattered broken female hearts all along the Great White Way, giving lots of people plenty of incentive to murder him. Sure enough, he is murdered, as is another fellow who holds a vital clue as to the identity of the killer. Second-guessing the detectives, hero Tony (Lloyd Hughes) tries to solve the mystery himself, if only to clear heroine Ina (Dorothy Sebastian) of suspicion. The guilty party is tricked into confessing by the cagey Tony.

Cast

• Lloyd Hughes as Tony Hill
• Dorothy Sebastian as Ina Fontanne
• Ian Keith as Reginald Thorpe
• Natalie Moorhead as Mrs. Lawton
• Richard Tucker as Mr. Lawton
• George Byron as Speedy
• Greta Granstedt as Celia Adams
• Murray Kinnell as Breckinridge
• DeWitt Jennings as Inspector Dunn
• Al Ernest Garcia as Payne
• Harvey Clark as Nat Phillips
• Sidney Bracey as Barney
• Frank Holliday as Thomas
• Colin Campbell as Dr. Schulz
• Nick Copeland as Stage manager
• John Wayne as Richard Thorpe as a corpse

See also

• List of American films of 1931

External links

• The Deceiver at IMDb
• The Deceiver at AllMovie