Ricardo Cortez portrayed the roguish private eye whose investigation of a murder case entwines him in a plot involving unsavory people searching for a fabled, jewel-encrusted falcon.

While the plot somewhat mirrors the 1941 remake, this pre-Code version features sexual innuendo, including Bebe Daniels bathing in the nude, overt references to homosexuality and one instance of cursing.

After returning to the realm of crime for It Had to Happen (1936) with George Raft and Rosalind Russell, Del Ruth directed James Stewart in one of the actor's few musicals, Born to Dance (1936).

Del Ruth continued churning out product for the studios, helming competent films like The Star Maker (1939), Here I Am Stranger (1939), He Married His Wife (1940) and Topper Returns (1941).

Del Ruth was one of seven directors on the successful Ziegfeld Follies (1946), which featured an all-star cast of Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Lena Horne, Red Skelton, and William Powell.

He directed George Raft again in the noir crime drama Red Light (1949), Milton Berle and Virginia Mayo in the comedy Always Leave Them Laughing (1949), and James Cagney in the vibrant The West Point Story (1950).

He went on to direct Jane Powell and Gordon MacRae in Three Sailors and a Girl (1953), He then took a short excursion into the initially short-lived 3D process with a horror film starring Karl Malden Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954).