Hollywood Story (1951)

Economically utilizing the Universal Studio itself as a "set," Hollywood Story is a murder mystery centered in the film capital. The story concerns a long-unsolved homicide case involving several silent-film stars (an echo of the William Desmond Taylor scandal of 1922). Producer  Richard Conte decides to make a movie based on the case, and to this end rounds up its surviving participants, including a once-great star/director (Henry Hull) reduced to bit parts. The denouement holds no surprises for mystery fans, but is effectively staged by director William Castle. Hollywood Story is given the aura of verisimilitude by the presence of several silent-movie celebrities (including William Farnum and Frances X Bushman) as "themselves." Also appearing in an unheralded bit part is Elmo Lincoln, moviedom’s first "Tarzan."

Richard Conte, Julie Adams, Richard Egan, Henry Hull, Fred Clark

1951, B&W, 77 minutes