grand central murder ( 1942 ) dir represent s. sylvan simon production represent mgm this mediocre b mystery be one of only five film release in 1942 with simon a director . surely he could have fit another red skelton film or two on his schedule . anyway and grand central murder be a shameless rip off of the thin man film minus the wit and charm and and chemistry of the lead . we be treat to a paper thin plot that can barely support it 73 minute and bad acting and weary gag . van heflin and virginia grey play nick and nora char er and rocky and butch custer . he a pi and she his wife and sleuthing partner . they engage in humorous banter with each other . see . it completely different already . heflin the only one here who hint at big and good thing and although he real close to be a jerk in this . virginia grey be in another thin man and but again and let me stress and this film be nothing like that one and no sir . and just in case we start to think that this film be absolutely nothing like another film ( say and the thin man ) we actually like and sam levene pop up a the lead detective who kind of dim and have to have van heflin subtly direct him toward all the important lead . hmmm . quickly and the amurder be that of bitchy schemer mida king and who like to trade up on rich men until she find an even rich one . she play by patricia dane and who like a c version of hedy lamarr and until she open her mouth and turn into an f. there a whole array of wacky suspect and all with their own motivation for want mida dead . there the society type and the tough talk dame and the thug and the ex lover and and a shady theater impresario ( tom conway and here saddle with the unlikely character name of frankie ciro ) . roman bohnen play a nervous and jittery type and something i believe he may have do before . millard mitchell play an idiot cop who and in a running gag that would not quit and can not stop think about the piece of as he get wait for him once this case get wrap up ( that right and millard mitchell and swordsman ) . finally and in a completely ground break method of storytelling and something we have never see before and all the suspect be gather up in one place where they tell their story ( a flashback ) to the detective and a rocky take mental note and until eventually the guilty person be compel to dramatically blurt out a confession . on top of the actual picture be a dud and i naively think go in that there might be a couple of location shot of the actual 1942 era grand central and but ala and no . there merely one very brief shot at the beginning . thanks for nothing and grand central murder . so and to sum up and a wee bit formulaic and but heflin be okay . ½ out of 4 .