WHITE HOT: THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF THELMA TODD (TV)

Summary

A television film about the life and death of 1930’s film star Thelma Todd.

On the morning of December 16th, 1935, actress Thelma Todd is found dead in her car by the police. The death attracts media attention, and the police initially believe that her death is a suicide caused by carbon monoxide inhalation. Also on the scene is Louis Marsden, an investigator for the district attorney’s office. Marsden meets some of Todd’s household staff and neighbors, and the police coroner believes that her death is either accidental or a suicide. Todd’s mother, Alice Todd, arrives and vehemently protests this ruling, believing that her daughter was murdered. Marsden becomes fascinated by Todd’s death despite his boss, D.A. Buron Fitts, urging him to drop the case. Marsden points out that there are numerous inconsistencies in the reports concerning Todd’s whereabouts and time of death, although D.A. Fitts does not care. Marsden begins by questioning Roland West, the co-owner of a restaurant established by Todd, who shared a duplex with her above the restaurant. Marsden insinuates that he and Todd were having an affair, and although Marsden claims to be separated from his wife, he denies that he and Todd were romantic partners. However, he laments that he never became closer to her and believes that she made poor choices with regards to her romantic endeavors.

Roland recounts meeting Todd during the filming of a comedy, remarking that her acting talent was at that time “woefully underutilized.” Roland convinces Universal to allow him to produce a dramatic film starring Todd (under the pseudonym “Alison Lloyd”) in a role that he believes will allow her to gain acclaim as a legitimate actress. She is reticent about this opportunity and maintains her emotional distance from Roland. The resultant film, “Corsair,” is released as a sneak preview six months later, and the public is displeased by the film. Roland believes that the studios deliberately set up the film to fail and that it required a “special audience,” but Todd is humiliated by the experience and is unwilling to cooperate with Roland any longer on it. Roland recounts that by that time, Mrs. Todd had arrived to regain control of her daughter’s career, sending her back into comedies, which Roland finds utterly distasteful. He goes on to say that he continued to be involved in Todd’s life by becoming her business partner for the restaurant, “Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Café.” She is intrigued by the idea, but learns that Roland has convinced his wife, Jewel Carmen, to put up one-third of the investment to open the place. At this time she also becomes romantically involved with Pat DiCicco, a Hollywood agent. DiCicco married Todd, and Roland tells Marsden that DiCicco soon proved to be an abusive husband until she divorced him after two years.

It is at this point that Todd and Roland move into their duplex and open the restaurant together. However, Todd soon neglects her duties as owner and becomes increasingly alcoholic. She and Roland have a heated argument over the failing finances of the restaurant, and he threatens to buy her out. Todd recognizes that his threat is dependent upon Jewel’s money, and says she will “get to the bottom of this, or die trying.” This statement piques Marsden’s interest, but Roland refuses to speak to him any further. Marsden then decides to visit Mrs. Todd, who refers to Roland as “parasitic filth” and claims that she “saved” Todd’s career after the sneak preview of “Corsair.” She recounts that when she learned of this, she traveled to Hollywood to negotiate a new contract for Todd with producer Hal Roach. Roach agrees to take Todd back, but only if she refrains from “loan-outs” or appearing in films under false names. Roach’s idea is to pair her with fellow comedic actress Patsy Kelly as a sort of “female Laurel and Hardy,” and she approves of this idea. However, Roach also asks to add a “potato clause” to her contract, specifying that Todd maintain her weight or else her contract would be voided. Mrs. Todd convinces her to accept this, although she helps Todd keep her weight down via regular ingestion of pills.

Mrs. Todd laments her daughter’s inability to control her relationships; she notes that DiCicco “had potential” and blames Todd for the problems in their marriage. She talks about Todd’s “willful” behavior even as a little girl. The discussion turns to another romantic partner of Todd’s, this one unnamed and unidentified. Mrs. Todd recounts a visit from Anne “Mac” McMahon, a longtime friend of Todd’s, who was in town to interview for a teaching position. Todd is set to go out to dinner with her mysterious new romantic partner, but very much wants to see Mac, as they have not talked in years. Mac asks to have Todd convince him to let her go for the night, but Todd believes this would be a bad idea. However, Todd convinces Mac to stay over at her mother’s place instead of at a hotel. Marsden asks Mrs. Todd about the identity of the mystery man, and she says she does not know. Mrs. Todd denies that she proclaimed that her daughter was murdered, much to Marsden’s confusion. She now claims that her death was a “tragic accident,” and she refuses to answer any more of Marsden’s questions.

Next, Marsden decides to speak to DiCicco at his lavish estate. Marsden tells him that he believes he somehow “bought off” Mrs. Todd’s approval, but DiCicco says that they have “an understanding” with each other. He recounts that when their relationship began he was very much in love with her, and they end up sleeping together after their first date. He enjoys the attention he receives from his relationship with her, but recounts that he was only “tolerated” by Todd’s friends and felt that he had no choice but to “cash in” on his newfound opportunities. He recounts her coming home one night from a party, quite inebriated, and getting in to an argument with him when he tries to keep her out of his room while making business calls. She becomes hysterical and starts breaking random objects. DiCicco strikes her, causing her to have an emotional breakdown. He admits that this was the first time he hit her, and that he did so on several other occasions as well. He says he was frequently absent to pursue his business opportunities, and that this drove Todd to drink with greater frequency. Marsden asks about Todd’s mysterious lover; DiCicco confirms that she had one; he says that they had been separated for months before she met him.

Eventually Marsden gets DiCicco to admit that he was the one who introduced Todd to her new romantic partner. He visited with her after several months, with Todd claiming that she was sober and in good spirits. While out with Roland, Todd spots a person of great importance enter the restaurant flanked by a number of men and she tries to determine who it is. DiCicco comes upon her and introduces her to the guest, a “Charles Lucifer” from New York. The two of them share an instant attraction, and he invites her to join him for dinner, with DiCicco close by. They talk and he convinces her to share a drink with him; he remarks that he is called “Lucky” by his associates, indicating that he is, in fact, the gangster Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Marsden is shocked to hear that DiCicco delivered Todd to Luciano, although DiCicco implies that he had no choice in the matter. Marsden theorizes that Luciano somehow orchestrated Todd’s death, but DiCicco responds only with silence.

Marsden finds Kelly and questions her during the shooting of a film; his various sources all claim that she and Todd were very close friends in addition to their professional relationship. She recounts meeting Todd on her first day working for Paramount, and recalls that she initially disliked her. While showing her around the set they run into Gloria Swanson, with whom Todd shares a brief, mocking conversation. This incident endears Todd to Kelly, and from that point on they become friends. She recounts that Todd had numerous people “feeding” off of her, and regrets that she didn’t do more to stop them. She recounts one incident in which Todd was preparing to attend a party and revealed that her mother had her on pills to keep her weight down and reduce her need for sleep. Outwardly, Todd appears to be in high spirits, but she confides in Kelly that she is dissatisfied with the direction her life has taken. Kelly recounts the morning after DiCicco hit Todd for the first time and says she urged Todd to leave him. Kelly covers for Todd to prevent Roach from inquiring into the matter.

Marsden continues his investigation by questioning Jewel Carmen, who makes her dislike for Todd quite clear. She criticizes Todd for “following her heart” instead of gaining financial and social independence via endeavors such as her restaurant. She recounts one night when Todd attempted to step out of the restaurant and got into an argument with Roland about it. Jewel breaks up the argument and allows her to leave, calling her a “lost cause.” Jewel states that the reason for the restaurant’s financial difficulties was not due to negligence on Todd’s part, but on some other unknown cause, as she claims that Todd invested a great deal of time and effort into running the place. She recalls going over the restaurant finances with Todd, and they discover some suspicious financial records which indicate that Todd’s last few paychecks may have gone missing. They are interrupted by one of Luciano’s messengers, who tries calls Todd away to see him; she does not inform Jewel of the details. Jewel threatens her not to jeopardize her finances, and Marsden suspects that this may have been a motive for murder. According to Jewel, the messenger, known as “Mousey,” was recently imprisoned and sent to Alcatraz.

At Alcatraz, Marsden speaks to Mousey, who confirms that Todd and Luciano were romantically involved. He recounts chauffeuring them around and overhearing their conversations. On the night they met, they visit Todd’s restaurant and she expresses her pride in it. They go for a walk on the beach together and spend the night together. Luciano attempts to stop her when she tries to leave the next morning for work, and becomes short and aggressive with her, warning her not to discuss his “business.” He allows her to leave; Mousey was outside the door the entire time on Luciano’s orders. Mousey tells Marsden that Luciano made frequent trips to California partially out of a desire to see Todd but mostly due to his attempts to set up criminal operations in Hollywood. The warfare between gangs in Hollywood results in several incidents of violence, such as a failed drive-by shooting of Luciano whilst exiting a club with Todd. Luciano feels guilty that he put Todd in harm’s way and says he must stop seeing her until the violence subsides, claiming that he loves her.

Mousey goes on to say that Luciano waited to contact Todd again until after her divorce from DiCicco was finalized. She shows him around her restaurant and he talks to her about the restaurant’s financial troubles. He offers to help her in exchange for the use of a storeroom above the restaurant, which he intends to turn into a private illegal casino. Todd refuses to cooperate with his idea and leaves, spurning him for trying to take advantage of her business venture. Later, Luciano confronts Todd in her dressing room during the shooting of a film, and says that his rival in Hollywood, Frank Nitti, controls the unions her restaurant deals with and is the one responsible for siphoning her profits. He claims that he is the only person able to protect her from Nitti, and that his casino idea is a means for him to influence the highest levels of the film industry in Hollywood, thus opposing Nitti’s efforts to do the same. He also claims that he is responsible for DiCicco divorcing her, and for the relatively speedy divorce hearings. Todd still refuses to take up Luciano’s offer, and he walks out on her. He discovers that Todd has made an appointment with the district attorney’s office and fears that she may expose sensitive information about his operation. Mousey does not know any further information, as he was imprisoned on a murder charge and Luciano abandoned him.

Marsden reports back to Fitts about his findings, again stating his belief that Todd was murdered. He tells Marsden not to go to the press with his investigation until he can produce more concrete evidence, but Marsden produces a file accounting for the missing time between Todd’s supposed time of death and what he believes is her actual time of death, based on his eyewitness accounts and various interviews. His findings state that Todd left her duplex for a party in the midst of an argument with Roland. At the party, witnesses recount that she drank only lightly, and that she had a run-in with DiCicco. There she accuses DiCicco of having ulterior motives for setting her up with Luciano, and they have an argument about the matter in private. DiCicco storms out and later, as Todd prepares to leave, she is confronted by one of Luciano’s lieutenants. She is brought to meet with Luciano and disappears for a time. A call is placed, supposedly by Todd, to the host of a party she is to attend that night; in a tremulous voice she says that she will be late, and is suddenly cut off. Todd never attends that party. Other witnesses place Todd and Luciano in a cul-de-sac at night engaged in a heated argument. Marsden then theorizes that Luciano then drove Todd back to the restaurant and, based on various evidence, hired an assassin to kill Todd as she was returning home.

Fitts congratulates Marsden and advises him to take some time off, wishing to handle the rest of the case himself. He promises to take the case directly to a grand jury. Marsden gets into a car accident on the way to his home and is unconscious for several days. When he awakens he finds that the Todd hearing has already transpired, and that most of his key witnesses were not called up to testify. Todd’s death is ruled to be an accident; Mrs. Todd goes along with this verdict, Roland’s health declines and he becomes a recluse, DiCicco becomes a movie theater company executive, Luciano never returns to California after Todd’s death, and Fitts soon gains a reputation for corruption and misuse of power eventually resulting in his suicide. Commercials deleted.

(This program contains audio errors. It represents the best copy available at this time.)

Details

• NETWORK: NBC
• DATE: 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:35:37
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: 120187
• GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Drama, historical; Drama, police/detective
• SERIES RUN: NBC - TV, 1991
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Frank von Zerneck … Executive Producer
• Robert M. Sertner … Executive Producer
• Mace Neuffield … Co-Executive Producer
• Doris Keating … Co-Executive Producer
• Julie Anne Weitz … Producer
• Gregory Prange … Producer
• Randy Sutter … Associate Producer
• Paul Wendkos … Director
• Robert E. Thompson … Writer
• Lindsay Harrison … Writer
• Andy Edmonds … Based on the non-fiction book “Hot Toddy” by
• Mark Snow … Music by
• Loni Anderson … Cast, Thelma Todd
• Maryedith Burrell … Cast, Patsy Kelly
• Robert Davi … Cast, Lucky Luciano
• Paul Dooley … Cast, Hal Roach
• Linda Kelsey … Cast, Annie "Mac" McMahon
• Dakin Matthews … Cast, D.A. Buron Fitts
• John O'Hurley … Cast, Pat DiCicco
• Scott Paulin … Cast, Louis Marsden
• Lawrence Pressman … Cast, Roland West
• Lois Smith … Cast, Alice Todd
• Robin Strasser … Cast, Jewel Carmen
• Allan Wasserman … Cast, Medical Examiner
• James Paradise … Cast, Vince
• Mort Sertner … Cast, Mr. Brill
• Marla Adams … Cast, Mrs. Ford
• Jeanne Jensen … Cast, Mrs. Brill
• Douglas MacHugh … Cast, Ernest Powers
• Frank Girardeau … Cast, Unger
• Anthony Charnota … Cast, Mousey
• Frances Nealy … Cast, Mae Whitehead
• Julie Mannix … Cast, Audience Member
• Joe Bays … Cast, Director
• John Command … Cast, Waiter
• George Hirschmann … Cast, Audience Member
• George Shea … Cast, Comedian