Midnight Intruder 1938

After losing all his money gambling on horses, former newspaper reporter Barry Gilbert, [Louis Hayward], and Doc Norton [J. C. Nugent] break into a vacant mansion belonging to the Reitters for shelter from the rain. Just as the trio settles in, Willetts [Robert Greig], the long-absent butler, arrives and, not knowing what the young John Clark Reitter Jr. looks like, assumes Barry is the scion. With little choice, Barry decides to impersonate John Clark Reitter Jr. for a while, especially since the family will be away for weeks.

A neighbor, Patricia Hammond [Barbara Read], develops an interest in Barry, while Peggy Reitter [Sheila Bromley], the showgirl wife of the real John Reitter Jr. (who goes by the alias Jay Rogers), shows up and insists her husband is being framed for the murder of a political bigshot. Barry agrees to try to clear him in exchange for Peggy not revealing his masquerade. He even accepts a job on John Clark Reitter Sr.’s paper under an assumed name, despite editor Bill Harwood [Joseph Crehan] warning him not to play detective.

Trouble thickens when Patricia crosses paths with Barry again and he learns that her father, Judge Hammond [Selmer Jackson], was with the victim on the day of the killing. Barry’s suspicions turn toward the judge, but the true murderer—nightclub owner Luis Romano [Matty Fain]—is eventually caught, and John is released. When John is introduced to Patricia and her father by his own father, who has returned early, they begin to wonder who Barry really is.

Barry does his best to keep the truth under wraps and to present John in the best light to his family. John’s mother, Mrs. John Clark Reitter Sr. [Nana Bryant], learns the full story from John and Peggy, yet she prefers to conceal the truth from her husband, who remains proud of his reformed son.

Harwood lets Barry keep his job and sends him to cover a story about a rich widow’s new husband, who turns out to be Doc Norton. Patricia eventually catches up with him and demands to know what has happened. When Barry says it would take a lifetime to explain, she replies, > “Darling, that’s just what I mean.”