Design for Murder

Design for Murder

1939 · 60 min · ★ 6.4 · Crime

When a wealthy, lonely university music student is beaten and has his apartment trashed by a fellow dorm resident-bully and his gang, he goes mad, lures the bully into his room on pretense of forgiveness, slips him a paralyzing agent in a drink, throws him in a trunk and locks him in, and taunts the bully with the promise that he will be buried alive in the trunk. Only, once he gets his trunk and his prey to his country estate, the vengeful victim finds things keep going wrong...

Directed by Roy Boulting

Your Rating

Cast

Make it a double feature

2h 28m together

Design for Murder

Tell England

Both from Roy Boulting.

More from Roy BoultingSee all →

Tell EnglandTell England · 1931
Tell England
8.31931
MovieDramaWar
In England, two young friends, confronted with the outbreak of World War I, enlist together to serve in the same company on the battle-field.
Miss Marple: The Moving FingerMiss Marple: The Moving Finger · 1985
Miss Marple: The Moving Finger
7.71985
SeriesCrimeMystery
The residents of a quiet English village begin to receive nasty, threatening letters. The wife of the local vicar calls in her friend Miss Marple to investigate.
Fame Is the SpurFame Is the Spur · 1947
Fame Is the Spur
7.11947
MovieDrama
A politician rises rapidly to fame and fortune and discovers that power corrupts and ultimately becomes the very type of politician he had set out to displace.
The Guinea PigThe Guinea Pig · 1948
The Guinea Pig
7.11948
MovieDrama
A working-class boy wins a scholarship to a public school, as part of a post-World War Two experiment in bringing boys of different social classes together.
Brothers in LawBrothers in Law · 1957
Brothers in Law
7.11957
MovieComedy
Roger Thursby is an overly keen, newly-qualified barrister who rubs his fellow barristers up the wrong way. When he is thrown in at the deep-end, with a particularly hot-tempered judge and tricky case, Thursby learns how to prove himself not only to the judge and fellow barristers but also to the public gallery.
Happy Is the BrideHappy Is the Bride · 1958
Happy Is the Bride
7.01958
MovieComedy
In a quiet summer corner of Wiltshire that is forever England, David and Janet decide to tie the knot. Unfortunately this is the cue for everyone else to take over proceedings, to the dismay of the couple and the increasing despair of Janet's father.
Sailor of the KingSailor of the King · 1953
Sailor of the King
7.01953
MovieActionDrama
A British naval officer has a brief affair with a woman in England and never knows that she bears him a son. 20 years later the boy is on a ship under his command when he is tracking a German Raider. When the boy is captured after his ship is sunk, he finds a way to slow the German's progress while a lethal hunt for him goes on.
Miss MarpleMiss Marple · 1984
Miss Marple
7.01984
Series
The definitive adaptation of all twelve Miss Marple novels, starring Joan Hickson in the title role and featuring one of the all-time TV themes, composed by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley. The series was produced by George Gallaccio, written by T. R. Bowen, Julia Jones, Alan Parker, Ken Taylor, and Jill Hyem, and co-stars David Horovitch and Ian Brimble as officers Slack and Lake. Over the course of the series it also features John Castle, Joan Sims, Sylvia Syms, Samantha Bond, Peter Davison, Timothy West, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Eddington, Cheryl Campbell, Maurice Denham, Donald Pleasence, Sophie Ward, Jean Simmons, and Joss Ackland.
Brighton RockBrighton Rock · 1948
Brighton Rock
6.81948
MovieCrimeDrama
Centring on the activities of a gang of assorted criminals and, in particular, their leader – a vicious young hoodlum known as "Pinkie" – the film's main thematic concern is the criminal underbelly evident in inter-war Brighton.
Seven Days to NoonSeven Days to Noon · 1950
Seven Days to Noon
6.81950
MovieThriller
When Professor Willingdon becomes wary of the nuclear weapons he is helping build, he steals a warhead and threatens to detonate it in London in seven days unless the government begins nuclear disarmament. As Willingdon goes into hiding, Detective Folland of Scotland Yard sets out to find him. Willingdon's daughter Ann also joins the cause, hoping she can talk sense into her father before he causes a catastrophe.
Twisted NerveTwisted Nerve · 1968
Twisted Nerve
6.81968
MovieThrillerHorror
Martin Durnley is a young man with an infantilizing mother, resentful stepfather and an institutionalized brother with Down's syndrome. To cope, he retreats into an alternate child personality he calls Georgie. After being caught during a theft attempt at a department store, he befriends a female customer who is sympathetic to him, but his friendship soon turns into obsession.
The Family WayThe Family Way · 1966
The Family Way
6.71966
MovieComedyDrama
Young newlyweds Arthur and Jenny Fitton want nothing more than to get their marriage started on the right foot. But before they can depart for their honeymoon in Spain, they have to spend their first night together at the home of Arthur's parents. The couple are prevented from having any intimacy, but it only gets worse. They find out that their trip to Spain is canceled, which sets the tone for a rocky few weeks.
Private's ProgressPrivate's Progress · 1956
Private's Progress
6.61956
MovieComedyWar
Stanley Windrush has to interrupt his university education when he is called up towards the end of the war. He quickly proves himself not to be officer material, but befriends wily Private Percival Cox who knows exactly how all the scams work in the confused world of the British Army. And Stanley's brigadier War Office uncle seems to be up to something more than a bit shady too - and they are both soon working for him, behind the enemy lines.
I'm All Right JackI'm All Right Jack · 1959
I'm All Right Jack
6.61959
MovieComedy
Naive Stanley Windrush looks for a career in a family business. Much to his dismay, he finds work at a munitions factory where he has to start from the bottom, while both the management and the labor union use him as a tool in their fight for power.
Heavens Above!Heavens Above! · 1963
Heavens Above!
6.61963
MovieComedy
A clerical error leads to the appointment of a left-leaning small-town priest to a rich village, where he immediately horrifies his snobby parishioners by appointing a dustman and a black man as vicar's wardens and throwing open the vicarage to the sprawling, disreputable Smith family, who have just been evicted from their caravan site. He converts the dowager aristocrat to works of absurd charity but he soon has the town and much of the country in uproar.
Rotten to the CoreRotten to the Core · 1965
Rotten to the Core
6.51965
MovieCrimeComedy
Rogues Jelly Knight, Scapa Flood, and Lennie the Dip leave prison expecting boss The Duke to have their stash ready to share out. Instead, Duke's girl Sara gives them the news Duke is dead and the money gone on nursing care. They soon discover that Duke is actually running Hope Springs Nature Clinic with the help of most of the local villains. Very strange - and the nearby army camp and Sara's encouragement of Lieutenant Vine would seem to be no coincidence either. Written by Jeremy Perkins

More Like This

Save the Green Planet!Save the Green Planet! · 2003
Save the Green Planet!
7.02003
MovieComedyScience Fiction
A young man believes that his country's leaders are actually toxic reptilian aliens sent down to launch a takeover of his beloved Earth. So he decides to abduct them and force the truth out on camera in his basement that doubles as a film studio and torture chamber.
A Bittersweet LifeA Bittersweet Life · 2005
A Bittersweet Life
7.42005
MovieActionDrama
Kim Sun-woo is an enforcer and manager for a hotel owned by a cold, calculative crime boss, Kang who assigns Sun-woo to a simple errand while he is away on a business trip; to shadow his young mistress, Hee-soo, for fear that she may be cheating on him with a younger man with the mandate that he must kill them both if he discovers their affair.
Cape FearCape Fear · 1962
Cape Fear
7.51962
MovieThrillerDrama
Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.
Death SentenceDeath Sentence · 2007
Death Sentence
6.82007
MovieActionCrime
Nick Hume is a mild-mannered executive with a perfect life, until one gruesome night he witnesses something that changes him forever. Transformed by grief, Hume eventually comes to the disturbing conclusion that no length is too great when protecting his family.
Kind Hearts and CoronetsKind Hearts and Coronets · 1949
Kind Hearts and Coronets
7.61949
MovieComedyCrime
When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be buried in the family mausoleum, Louis avenges his mother's death by attempting to murder every family member who stands between himself and the family fortune. But when he finds himself torn between his longtime love and the widow of one of his victims, his plans go awry.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo GarciaBring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia · 1974
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
7.11974
MovieActionCrime
An American bartender and his prostitute girlfriend go on a road trip through the Mexican underworld to collect a $1 million bounty on the head of a dead gigolo.
The Replacement KillersThe Replacement Killers · 1998
The Replacement Killers
6.31998
MovieActionCrime
Hired assassin John Lee is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov. Lee has the boy in his sights, but his conscience gets the better of him, and he spares the child's life. Afraid that Wei will take revenge on his family in China, Lee seeks out expert forger Meg Coburn to obtain the passport he needs to get out of the country, but a band of replacement killers is soon on his trail.
Bullet BalletBullet Ballet · 1998
Bullet Ballet
7.11998
MovieDramaThriller
After his girlfriend commits suicide, a man becomes embroiled in gang warfare attempting to obtain a gun in hopes to kill himself.
Point BlankPoint Blank · 1967
Point Blank
7.11967
MovieCrimeThriller
After being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the rather inconsequential sum of money that was stolen from him.
Raw DealRaw Deal · 1948
Raw Deal
6.71948
MovieCrimeThriller
Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He's taken the rap for his accomplice Rick, a sadistic mobster who owes him $50,000 from the job they pulled. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, assuming that Joe will be killed while fleeing. But with the help of his love-struck girl Pat and his sympathetic legal caseworker Ann, Joe gets further than Rick intended...
Messenger of DeathMessenger of Death · 1988
Messenger of Death
6.11988
MovieActionCrime
A Denver reporter investigates the mass murder of a family of Mormons in rural Colorado.
Mr. MajestykMr. Majestyk · 1974
Mr. Majestyk
6.81974
MovieActionCrime
A melon farmer battles organized crime and a hit man who wants to kill him.
Wrong Turn at TahoeWrong Turn at Tahoe · 2009
Wrong Turn at Tahoe
5.72009
MovieActionCrime
A small-time crime boss kills a drug dealer without realizing that the drug dealer works for the biggest crime boss in the country.
The Card CounterThe Card Counter · 2021
The Card Counter
6.12021
MovieDramaThriller
William Tell just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk, a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel. Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk.
Cutter's WayCutter's Way · 1981
Cutter's Way
6.51981
MovieDramaMystery
Alex Cutter is a boozy, belligerent and deeply cynical Vietnam veteran whose encounter with a landmine during the war has left him minus an eye, a leg and an arm. When his drifter playboy friend Richard Bone is falsely accused of murder, Cutter sets out for revenge in his own inimitable style.
The ChaseThe Chase · 1966
The Chase
7.11966
MovieCrimeDrama
The escape of Bubber Reeves from prison affects the inhabitants of a small Southern town.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter