This was a noir film from the 1930s or 1940s to the best of my recollection. I cannot remember the name of the movie or the actors. But one man has a beloved daughter, and another man who is an evil user of women causes the daughter to fall in love with him, and they are to be married. The father of the daughter warns the evil man to leave his daughter alone, or else he will kill him. The evil man vows to go ahead with the marriage anyway, and if he is killed he would exact vengeance from the grave.
The father hatches a plot to kill the evil man. For his alibi, he sets up a record turntable with a makeshift belt attached to some sort of motor – I can’t remember specifically what motor. He places a small statue of some kind near the edge of the turntable so that it will rotate around at about once every 3 or 4 seconds. He then places a lamp behind the turntable, shining toward the curtains on the window. At night, this contraption makes it appear to someone outside watching the window as though he is at home and pacing back-and-forth across the room. He knows the evil man has placed men outside the home to watch if he leaves, and to inform him so he can protect himself. Then he leaves the house through the back door, goes to the evil man’s home and shoots him dead, then places the gun in his hand to make it look like a suicide.
The evil man’s wife or longtime girlfriend who loves him in spite of the fact that he has cheated with so many other women get’s suspicious and plays detective – she is convinced the father of the girl is the murderer. She ferrets out all the scheme and confronts the father of the girl in the same room where the murder occurred. Then the police arrive, see the crime scene, and disturb the body a bit, causing the dead man’s arm to flop over to one side, wherein the gun is pointing directly at the father of the girl (the murderer) and a spasm causes the dead man’s hand to contract, firing the gun, and killing the father.
Sorry – I know I gave away the whole plot here. But this was an excellent movie, very well directed and acted. I just can’t remember the title or who the actors were. Can anyone help, please?