The Deceiver (1931)

"A Knave of Hearts Plays His Last Scene and Rings Down the Curtain on a Baffling Mystery!"

Broadway matinee idol, Shakespearean actor Reginald Thorpe, is found dead in his dressing room on the eve of his departure for Hollywood. Thorpe's understudy, Tony Hill, is suspected, particularly in light of his skill with knives. Thorpe, however, was a lady's man who seems to have been involved in blackmailing one of his lovers.