The Lady in Question (1999 film)

The Lady in Question is a 1999 American television mystery crime-thriller film directed by Joyce Chopra. It represents the last leading role and film for Gene Wilder and his last credit as screenwriter. As in the previous film Murder in a Small Town, Wilder plays the amateur detective Larry "Cash" Carter.^[1][2] It was broadcast by A&E on December 12, 1999.^[3]

Set in 1938 Connecticut, the story follows amateur detective Larry "Cash" Carter (Gene Wilder) as he becomes embroiled in a complex murder mystery involving the theatrical world. When a prominent actress is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Carter is drawn into an investigation that reveals dark secrets within a tight-knit community of performers and theater enthusiasts.

The case begins when Carter, while visiting friends in a small Connecticut town, discovers that a well-known stage actress has died mysteriously. What initially appears to be a straightforward case soon becomes complicated as Carter uncovers a web of romantic entanglements, professional rivalries, and long-buried secrets among the local theater community.

As Carter delves deeper into the investigation, he encounters a cast of suspicious characters, each with their own motives for wanting the victim dead. The detective must navigate through layers of deception, examining the relationships between the victim and her associates, including fellow actors, directors, and wealthy patrons of the arts.

Working alongside Detective Tony Rossini (Mike Starr), Carter employs his keen observational skills and intuitive understanding of human nature to piece together the clues. The investigation takes him through the atmospheric world of 1930s theater, from rehearsal halls to elegant drawing rooms, as he attempts to identify the killer among a group of accomplished performers who are all capable of maintaining convincing facades.

The mystery deepens when Carter realizes that the murder may be connected to events from the victim's past, forcing him to uncover secrets that several people would prefer to keep buried. As the investigation reaches its climax, Carter must use all his detective skills to expose the truth and bring the killer to justice.

• Gene Wilder as Larry "Cash" Carter
• Mike Starr as Det. Tony Rossini
• Cherry Jones as Mimi Barnes
• Barbara Sukowa as Rachel Singer
• John Benjamin Hickey as Paul Kessler
• Claire Bloom as Emma Sachs
• Michael Cumpsty as Klaus Gruber
• Dixie Seatle as Gertie Moser

After the high ratings A&E received for Murder in a Small Town, the first Cash Carter mystery, The Lady in Question began filming in Toronto in May 1999.^[4]

Although A&E and Granada Entertainment USA planned to develop the Gene Wilder character as a franchise,^[4][5] only two Cash Carter films were produced. On January 30, 2000, Wilder was admitted to Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center for a stem-cell transplant, a follow-up to treatment he received in 1999 for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Wilder checked in under the name Larry Carter, his character's name in the two A&E films.^[6]: 237

• 1999, A&E Home Video, VHS (AAE-17606), ISBN 0-7670-2316-1
• 2002, A&E Home Video, DVD (AAE-72223), ISBN 0-7670-6956-0

• The Lady in Question at IMDb
• The Lady in Question at the TCM Movie Database
• The Lady in Question at the Wayback Machine (archived September 3, 2000)
• The Gene Wilder Papers at the University of Iowa — Scripts and correspondence for The Lady in Question