a murder be commit at the forest park planetarium during a lecture by the celebrated astronomer and professor ernst einfeld ( lee kohlmar ) . the fatal shot be fire in semi darkness while a distinguished audience observe the star project on the dome above them . a hardboiled homicide detective ( russell hopton ) trade verbal jab with a wisecrack gal reporter ( lola lane ) a they attempt to unravel the mysterious killing and accord to the dvd sleeve synopsis . in a very dull manner . the gal reporter character play by lola lane be and in part and writer jerry siegel inspiration for superman girl friend and lois lane while however and ms. lane later torchy blane characterization be a more accurate reference point . perhaps and death from a distance be most notable a feature the penultimate performance of george f. marion ( a jim gray ) and who so memorably play the father of pauline lord ( 1921 ) and blanche sweet ( 1923 ) and and greta garbo ( 1930 ) in eugene oneill anna christie . death from a distance ( 9/17/35 ) frank strayer ~ russell hopton and lola lane and george f. marion .