"Shadows of Sing Sing" director Phil Rosen's murder/mystery "I Killed That Man" boasts a provocative premise that the film doesn't live up to in the long run. Public officials, reporters, friends, and an Assistant District Attorney gather at the prison to witness the execution of a convicted murderer in the electric chair. The condemned killer, Nick Ross (Ralf Harolde of "Horror Island"), makes a public statement before his execution. According to Ross, the dastard who hired him to commit murder has double-crossed him by not helping him escape. Since the unknown man hasn't held up his end of the bargain for Ross, Ross plans to reveal the identity of the man who contracted him to commit murder. Before he can utter that name, a poison dart sinks into his neck, and he collapses stone dead beyond any chance of resuscitation before the room of witnesses. Obviously, this means that one of those witnesses pulled off the crime and killed Ross without alarming anybody else during the crime. Mind you, nobody has left the death chamber before the warden ushered Ross into the premises. Similarly, before anybody can leave the death chamber, Assistant District Attorney Roger Phillips (Ricardo Cortez of "The Walking Dead") intervenes and requests that the warden keep everybody confined until he has questioned them and arrested the guilty suspect. Initially, Phillips asks everybody remove their clothes. Naturally, this doesn't endear any of the witnesses to Phillips. Indeed, Phillips must be reminded that he must disrobe, too. Sadly, Rossen doesn't exploit this opportunity for comic relief. Afterward, Phillips quizzes each about what prompted them came to witness the execution. Ultimately, Phillips cannot make up his mind who killed Ross, but he finds a cigarette holder on the person of an older gentleman who knew Ross in his youth. Phillips suggests Lanning (Harry Holman of "Meet John Doe") is responsible for Ross' murder. The newspaper reporters disperse to type out their respective stories, while Phillips contemplates the mystery. Eventually, Phillips teams up with his girlfriend, reporter Geri Reynolds (Joan Woodbury of "Phantom Killer"), to trap the suspect that they initially least suspect. Rossen does wring considerable comic relief from the District Attorney's Office switchboard operator, T0mmy (George P. Breakston of "Oriental Evil"), who allows them to confirm the identity of the killer when they listen on a two-party telephone line. Once Phillips arrests Lanning, he remains off-screen. One of the suspects, Lowell King (George Pembroke of "Red Snow"), compliments Phillips on his sleuthing savvy but then has to convince the Assistant District Attorney that he isn't the guilty party. Phillips and his newspaper girlfriend think they have the drop on him when they trace a mysterious phone number to his home. Later, they learn that King's loyal butler, Thomas Gordon (Willy Castello of "Mad Youth"), had called Nick Ross from King's phone to place a wager on a horse. My chief complaint about "I Killed That Man" is that the resolution of the mystery isn't that compelling and it is rather complicated, too. You never get to see how the villain killed the condemned man without incriminating himself. Eventually, we are shown how he smuggled the poisoned dart into the room. Moreover, when he does demonstrate how easy it is to shoot the dart with a rubber band, it seems that somebody might have seen him. At least, when the culprit isn't exposed too early, although the film runs a mere 71 minutes. The big break that leads to his arrest occurs all because one of Geri's fellow reporters believes in female equality! Altogether, "I Killed That Man" is interesting, but it would have worked better had they reenacted the crime right after they catch the killer.

***SPOILERS*** While on his way to be executed for murder the tight lipped convicted murderer Nick Ross, Ralf Harolde,finally opens up his big mouth and goes on talking endlessly in how he was railroaded by his un-named boss into the electric chair and now he's going to tell the whole world who that man is! It's then that Ross suddenly goes into cardiac arrest and drops dead in front the some dozen hand picked witnesses who are there to withes his execution.Assistant D.A Roger Phillips, Ricardo Cortez, who prosecuted the case and was one of those who witness Ross' unexpected demise, with a poison dart shot in his neck, and is determined to find his murderer and goes about it by laying a number of red herrings as to draw Ross' murderer out into the open. it's Ross' girlfriend Verne Drake, Iris Adrian,who becomes the killer's next victim when driving her car as she honks her horn to avoid hitting someone and suddenly drops dead with crusader against the death penalty J. Reed, Gavin Gordon, as her passenger! It turns out that the murder weapon in both Ross & Verne Drake's deaths was a poison dart shot from close range at them!***SPOILERS***The movie lumbers along until some secret code is broken by woman reporter Geri Reynolds,Joan Woodbury, who after exposing the killer is left at his mercy until Assistant D.A Phillips and a squad of New York's Finest brake into his office and finally apprehend him.The killer himself had covered his tracks by having everyone working for him murdered but left a major clue, a library book on poisons, that finally exposed him to the police and D.A's office. P.S "I Killed That Man" was in fact the very first shown in the theaters movie to be broadcast, three years after it's release, on public TV being broadcast on New York's WNTB Channel 1 on August 7, 1944 at a time when there was less then 1,000 people in the US who owned a TV set!

Newspaper reporter Joan Woodbury sails up to her editor's desk. The editor is on the phone. "Get me the state prison," he says. Woodbury doesn't miss a beat: "Making a reservation so soon?" This is the kind of snappy dialog that makes this an enjoyable lightweight film.Plenty of movies from this era featured the crime-solving reporter. Many others starred the assistant district attorney tracking down a murderer. I Killed That Man has both—Woodbury as the reporter, and Ricardo Cortez as her boyfriend who also happens to be the assistant D.A. working on the case.Other familiar elements also abound: rival reporters envious of Woodbury's connections, the poison dart as murder weapon. George Breakston is entertaining as the D.A. office's receptionist and switchboard operator—besides reading crime non-fiction and proposing inspired solutions to this particular mystery, he offers knowing deductions based on Woodbury's appearance as she sits in his waiting area. (How did he know she got dressed in a hurry that morning? "You got your left stocking on inside out.") There's only one thing I really want to know after watching this picture: What card catalog numbering system did they use at their local library?

On his way to receive a final toast - in the electric chair! - condemned Ralf Harold (as Nicholas Ross) pauses to let the assembled witnesses know he's going to give away the identity of a fellow criminal. But, just as he is about to reveal the crook's name, Mr. Harold is stricken by a deadly poison dart. District attorney Ricardo Cortez (as Roger Phillips) and attractive "Chronicle" reporter Joan Woodbury (as Geri Reynolds) sift through the suspects, banter romantically, and try to solve the murder. You've seen this kind of picture before, but the tired storyline in "I Killed That Man" is enlivened by its cast and crew.Director Phil Rosen and his star, Mr. Cortez, were silent screen veterans (they'd worked together) who found less success after the advent of talking motion pictures; but, their skills are clearly evident, as they make the most of this quickly produced, low-budget film. Today, Mr. Rosen is not well-remembered; but, he worked on some of the most important Hollywood films of the teens and twenties (many are lost). Cortez reached a popularity peak in 1926, after working on films with Greta Garbo and D.W. Griffith. The supporting cast does very well, and Ms. Woodbury is a thoroughly charming leading woman.****** I Killed That Man (11/28/41) Phil Rosen ~ Ricardo Cortez, Joan Woodbury, George Pembroke