Plot Explained Spoilers guaranteed!
Plot Explained

Browse by genre

Now I’ll Tell (1934) movie poster

Timeline

Now I’ll Tell (1934) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
1934 · 82 mins · English
Loading streaming availability…
Directed by
Edwin J. Burke
Starring
Irving Bacon, Vince Barnett, Hobart Cavanaugh, Henry O'Neill, Joseph Crehan, Spencer Tracy

A candid confession unfolds as a woman narrates the rise of a modest gambler who, against all odds, claws his way to the top of the underworld. His ambition for wealth is matched only by his devotion to his wife, leaving him constantly torn between the allure of riches and the love he feels at home.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (12)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Now I’ll Tell
  6. 6 Every angle
Loading streaming availability…

12 events in order · contains spoilers

Now I’ll Tell Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Now I’ll Tell (1934) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Murray Golden's gamble and vow to quit

    Murray Golden lives as an unscrupulous New York gambler and casino operator who wants to live life to the fullest. He clings to a hard-edged motto: you're only wrong when you fail. His wife Virginia extracts a promise that he will quit the business once he makes $500,000, a vow he later breaks.

    Where
    New York City
  2. Murray starts an affair with Peggy Warren

    Shortly after, Murray begins seeing Peggy Warren, keeping the relationship hidden from Virginia. He continues his casino and gambling lifestyle while the affair remains secret from his wife. The tension between loyalty and desire tightens around his promise to quit.

    Where
    New York City
  3. Al Mossiter fixes a championship boxing match

    Murray learns gangster Al Mossiter has fixed a championship boxing match. He pays one of the fighters to take a dive in the second round; Mossiter's man goes down in the fifth, and Murray wins a lot of money. The scheme shows how far Murray is willing to go to chase a payout.

    When
    second round
    Where
    New York City
  4. Mossiter's boxer is murdered

    Mossiter’s boxer, the one who took the dive, is murdered later as the fix begins to unravel. The violence heightens Murray’s risk and draws law enforcement attention toward Mossiter’s operation. The stakes of the gamble suddenly become deadly.

    Where
    New York City
  5. Virginia confronts Murray; deceit about Peggy

    Virginia learns of Murray's affair and threatens to leave him. To keep her from walking away, Murray spins a lie, claiming Peggy is Freddie’s mistress and that he’s moving into the insurance business. The deception deepens the strain on their marriage.

    When
    shortly after the fight
    Where
    New York City
  6. Kidnapping plot grows; Peggy dies in a car crash

    An associate suggests Mossiter kidnap Virginia to force Murray’s hand. Murray races back to the city when the plan develops, but is injured along the way. Peggy is killed in a car crash during the upheaval, and Virginia is eventually freed after the ransom is paid.

    Where
    New York City
  7. Virginia decides to divorce

    Despite Virginia’s return to normal life after the kidnapping, she has had enough and decides to end the marriage with a divorce. The betrayal and danger surrounding Murray leave their partnership irreparably broken. The divorce signals a definitive break between them.

    Where
    New York City
  8. Years later: Virginia’s Europe voyage and surprise

    Years later Murray receives a telegram from Virginia, telling him she is sailing home from Europe with a 'surprise'. He believes she is coming back, but she plans to marry someone else. She asks for her jewelry, and Murray promises to give it in a week, only to discover he has pawned them in hard times.

    When
    years later
    Where
    Europe (on a voyage home)
  9. Murray sinks into debt in a marathon poker game

    Murray sits down to a grueling poker game with Mossiter and others. After a day and a half, he owes $210,000, and Mossiter buys up all of his IOUs, giving him a strict deadline to come up with the money. The tension mounts as his luck and nerve fail under pressure.

    When
    day and a half of play
    Where
    Mossiter’s hotel room
  10. Confrontation leads to a shooting and a secret plan

    Murray shows up at Mossiter’s hotel room, refuses to pay, and announces he will tell the district attorney who killed the boxer. Mossiter shoots him, and Murray reveals he had taken out a life insurance policy on himself to fund the plan to reclaim Virginia’s jewelry. He boasts that he has outsmarted his killer by winning a small bet of twenty dollars.

    When
    immediately after the confrontation
    Where
    Mossiter’s hotel room
  11. Doctor delivers grim news; Virginia lies to him

    A doctor informs Virginia that Murray is dying. She lies to him, telling him that she is returning to him, masking her true intentions and emotions. The scene underscores the fragility of their relationship and the cost of Murray’s double life.

    When
    after the shooting
    Where
    Hospital
  12. Final lie: Virginia’s return plan remains a lie

    As Murray’s condition worsens, Virginia doubles down on the lie that she is coming back to him. The scene closes the timeline with unresolved tension and a marriage built on deception and danger.

    When
    terminal

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:04

Was this helpful?

Timeline questions answered

Now I’ll Tell Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Now I’ll Tell (1934): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why did Murray Golden break his promise to quit gambling after making $500,000?

Murray's philosophy was 'you're only wrong when you fail,' reflecting his relentless ambition and inability to walk away from wealth and power. Once he reached his financial goal, he chose to keep pursuing more money rather than honor his vow to his wife. He rationalized his decision by telling Virginia he was entering the insurance business, which was a lie to maintain the lifestyle she disapproved of.

  • murray golden
  • promise
  • 500000
  • gambling
  • ambition
Q2

How did Murray exploit the fixed boxing match between Mossiter's fighters?

Murray learned that Al Mossiter had fixed a championship boxing match and paid one of the fighters to take a dive in the second round. When Mossiter's man went down in the fifth round as part of the original fix, Murray won a substantial amount of money from his bets. This scheme allowed him to profit from Mossiter's own corruption while remaining technically within the gambling world.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes establish Murray as someone who will manipulate any situation for profit, foreshadowing his willingness to cheat other criminals.

  • boxing match
  • fixed fight
  • mossiter
  • dive
  • bet
Q3

Why did Murray claim Peggy Warren was Freddie Stanton's mistress?

When Virginia discovered Murray's affair with Peggy and threatened to leave him, Murray spun a lie to protect his marriage. He told Virginia that Peggy was actually the mistress of his associate Freddie Stanton, not him. This deception allowed Murray to keep his affair secret while convincing Virginia to stay. He also claimed he was getting out of gambling and into insurance to further appease her.

Foreshadowing: The earlier promise scene establishes Virginia's intolerance for Murray's lifestyle, making his lie a direct response to her potential departure.

  • peggy warren
  • freddie stanton
  • affair
  • lie
  • deception
Q4

Why did Al Mossiter plot to kidnap Virginia Golden?

Mossiter learned that Murray had double-crossed him in the boxing match scheme and wanted revenge. Since Murray won money through the fix, Mossiter plotted to kidnap Virginia and demand a ransom to recover his losses. An associate suggested the kidnapping as a way to force Murray's hand and retrieve everything Murray had won.

Foreshadowing: Murray's exploitation of the fixed fight directly leads to Mossiter's vendetta, showing how his cheating creates dangerous enemies.

  • al mossiter
  • kidnap
  • virginia
  • ransom
  • revenge
Q5

How did Peggy Warren die in the movie?

When Murray learned about the kidnapping plot, he rushed back to the city to rescue Virginia. During this chaotic pursuit, Peggy Warren was killed in a car crash. Her death occurred while Murray was trying to reach Virginia, and the accident happened in the commotion surrounding the kidnapping situation.

  • peggy warren
  • car crash
  • death
  • accident
Q6

Why did Virginia Golden decide to get a divorce after being kidnapped?

Despite being freed unharmed after the ransom was paid, Virginia had finally reached her breaking point with Murray's lifestyle. The kidnapping was the culmination of years of broken promises, infidelity, and the dangerous world Murray brought to their marriage. The danger she experienced made her realize she could no longer tolerate being connected to his criminal activities.

Foreshadowing: Virginia's earlier threat to leave when she learned of the affair establishes her growing intolerance for Murray's behavior.

  • virginia
  • divorce
  • kidnap
  • marriage
  • leave
Q7

What was the surprise Virginia mentioned in her telegram to Murray?

When Virginia sent Murray a telegram saying she was sailing home from Europe with a 'surprise,' Murray assumed she was returning to him. However, the surprise was that she was actually coming home to marry someone else. She wanted nothing more from Murray than her jewelry that he had promised to give her.

  • telegram
  • surprise
  • marriage
  • return
  • europe
Q8

What was Murray's plan with the life insurance policy he took out?

After losing $210,000 in a poker game with Mossiter, Murray needed money to retrieve Virginia's jewelry from the pawn shop. He took out a life insurance policy on himself, knowing he would likely die from confronting Mossiter. The policy would pay out upon his death, providing Virginia with the money from the jewelry. He also bet Mossiter $20 that he would outsmart him, which he considered his final victory.

  • life insurance
  • policy
  • money
  • jewelry
  • death
Q9

Why did Murray go to Mossiter's hotel room knowing he would be killed?

Murray owed Mossiter $210,000 after the marathon poker game, and Mossiter bought up all his IOUs with a deadline to pay. Rather than flee or pay, Murray went to confront Mossiter directly. He announced he would not pay and would tell the district attorney about the boxing match murder. His goal was to force Mossiter to kill him, which would trigger the life insurance payout for Virginia.

  • mossiter
  • confrontation
  • shoot
  • confession
  • da
Q10

Why did Virginia tell Murray she was returning to him when she wasn't?

After Murray was shot, the doctor informed Virginia that Murray was dying. Knowing Murray wanted to believe they would be together again, she lied and told him she was coming back to him. This final deception was a mercy killing of sorts, allowing Murray to die believing he had won back his wife's love, even though she planned to marry someone else.

  • virginia
  • lie
  • dying
  • return
  • mercy

Movie threads

More Movies Like Now I’ll Tell, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Now I’ll Tell tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Gangster rise and fall movies like Now I’ll Tell

Tragic stories of ambition leading to inevitable ruin in the criminal underworld. If you liked Now I’ll Tell, explore more movies about the tragic arc of gangsters and gamblers. These stories feature a fast-paced, high-intensity narrative of ambition and betrayal, leading to a bittersweet or bleak ending, similar to the gripping downfall in this film.

  • gripping
  • fatalistic
  • anxious
  • cynical
  • tense
  • tragic
  • Tone: dark, fatalistic
  • Pacing: fast, relentless
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative typically follows a linear but consequential path: a character sees an opportunity for power or wealth, makes increasingly dark moral choices to seize it, achieves a brief, precarious success, and is ultimately destroyed by the consequences of their actions, often losing everything they held dear.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here based on their shared focus on a specific character arc—the ambitious rise and inevitable fall within a criminal context—combined with a dark, tense tone and heavy emotional weight that explores themes of greed, betrayal, and fatalism.

Fatalistic moral dramas like Now I’ll Tell

Heavy stories where characters are trapped by their own cynical choices. Find movies similar to Now I’ll Tell that explore the heavy theme of fatalism and moral compromise. These films share a dark, gripping tone and a fast-paced narrative where characters are trapped by their choices, leading to a bittersweet or tragic conclusion.

  • fatalistic
  • regretful
  • melancholic
  • gripping
  • anxious
  • cynical
  • Tone: dark, bleak, regretful
  • Pacing: fast, consequential
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The core pattern is a character's journey into a web of their own making. A single-minded goal leads to a series of escalating compromises. The narrative builds tension not from whether they will succeed, but from the grim certainty of the personal cost, culminating in an ending steeped in regret and consequence.

Why they belong together: These movies share a cohesive vibe defined by a bleak, philosophical outlook on choice and consequence. They are united by a high-intensity, fast-paced structure that makes the moral collapse feel both gripping and inevitable, resulting in a profoundly heavy emotional experience.

If you liked this

Movies Like Now I’ll Tell

Similar movies to Now I’ll Tell: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

Browse all movie summaries

Every angle

Now I’ll Tell (1934) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Now I’ll Tell in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

Coming soon on iOS and Android

The Plot Explained Movie Summary App

Plot summaries, endings explained and timelines on your phone. Catch up on any movie in minutes, save your favorites and never miss a twist again.

Be the first to know when we launch. Your email stays private, always.

Learn more about the app