​​​​​​​Susan Evans Grove

A milliner facing financial trouble accuses the wrong man of robbing her shop.

"The Dame in Distress" was Elva La Treque’s first foray into the world of film noir and her first film with Blanc La Rocque as her co-star. La Rocque plays Charlie Greenhorn, a rookie detective who makes the rookie mistake of falling for the wrong woman.

La Treque is Cynthia Cloch, a milliner who is up to her brim in debt so she fakes a robbery. When Greenhorn comes to investigate she panics and accuses the plumber of the robbery. Little does she know that the man she accused is actually a serial killer that Greenhorn’s captain has been trying to catch for years. 

Even though Greenhorn is smitten with Cloch he suspects she might be lying. When he shows up at her shop to confront her he finds the plumber is about to murder her. A slow speed chase ensues since Cloch has stabbed the murderer in the leg with a hat pin and Greenhorn has a pulled hamstring at a department wide softball game. 

Ultimately the killer is caught and brought to justice and the wife of one of his victims is so grateful she bails out Cloch’s business and charges are dropped since the Commissioner's wife is a millinophile.

From the moment this picture was released Mistumount knew they had found the perfect leading man for La Treque. In some 20 something films the studio continued to capitalize on the chemistry between their two contract players. Even when their on again off again relationship was off the couples chemistry on the screen was electric. After a few films cinema fans didn’t even notice La Rocque’s Serbian accent though some of his fans never forgave him for prioritizing his acting over his singing career.