This film was produced and distributed in 1938, and is not a 1941 production.

The exhibitors and various censor boards objected to the original title, "The Sunset Strip Case" (because of the double meaning that implied a strip on Sunset rather than the name of the street, which is exactly what the producer had in mind when he hired fan-dancer Sally Rand, the hit of the Chicago Exposition and the later Texas Centennial), and Boston promptly banned the film, as Boston was often subject to do with far less reason than they had with this film.

The film was tied up in law suits across the country brought against the various blue-nose boards who also blocked its showing, and all this was going on during the collapse of Grand National with GN president E. W. Hammons being hauled to court by exhibitors and creditors, including the production unit headed by this film's producer George A. Hirliman.

The latter produced it for Grand National distribution, but Grand National had no distribution left when Hirliman finally got it cleared for showing in New York in 1941 under the title of "The Sunset Murder Case"...and it was distribued through indie exchanges in 1941 as Grand National had long folded its tent. It still carried the Grand National logo, which evidently has fooled the source that keeps calling this a 1941 production, and showing it as being distributed by an entity that no longer existed.

The cast order shown on the 1941 prints is no way reflective of the cast order shown on original release. Excuse the use of Plot Summary to explain why this is not a 1941 film, but that is beginning to appear to be the only way to get this film into its proper decade. The plot summary, albeit skimpy,already on site will suffice for the plot.

Be advised that Sally Rand was slower with her fans and showed more flesh in a later-Soundies short film than she does here. This one ran into trouble in 1938 because of her name, and not what she actually showed, although she showed more than was custom in 1938...or 1948 or 1958 for that matter.

Summary written by Les Adams {longhorn@abilene.com} from imdb.com

Reviewer: EsTiSi - - June 28, 2005
This copy suffers from some major technical issues that cut into one's enjoyment of the film. During large portions of the movie, including the bubble dance mentioned below the soundtrack is overwhelmed by what sounds much like a large, lumbering truck. Also, there would seem to be a number of missing scenes... or perhaps I just assume there are because of really poor pacing and strange uses of ellipses... either way the narrative suffers. On the other hand, some of the acting is enjoyable, though one should prepare to watch a good bit of strange/modern dance and hear a song or two with no relation to the plot whatsoever.

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sally Rand....Kathy O'Connor
Esther Muir ....Lora Wynne
Vince Barnett ....Barney
Paul Sutton....Bapti Stephani
Lona Andre ....Nita Madera
Mary Brodel....Jane Baird (bit)
George Douglas ....Carlo Rossmore
Reed Hadley....Oliver Helton
Kathryn Kane ....Penny Nichols
Dennis Moore ....Lou Fleming
Frank O'Connor....Detective Sergeant Tom O'Connor
Stanley Price ....Eric Martin
Henry King ....Himself
Bruce Mitchell....Bit
Lester Dorr ....Bit

Director: Louis J. Gasnier
Producer: George A. Hirliman
Production Company: Grand National Pictures, Inc
Audio/Visual: sound, b&w

Writing credits
Paul Franklin
Arthur Hoerl

Also Known As:
High Explosive (UK)
The Sunset Strip Case (USA)

Keywords: crime, mystery, drama