"The Cinema Murder" relates the adventures of Philip Romilly, a half-starved art teacher of London, whose one faint hope of a betterment of his affairs lies in the chance of his selling a story or a play sometime. His cousin, Douglas Romilly, succeeds in getting out of life the very things for which Philip yearns. He put Douglas out of the way, and impersonates him on the Atlantic liner to New York. Under an assumed name, he rewrites his play. The success of it is furnished by Elizabeth Dalstan, an actress, whom he falls in love with. The romance which ensues is interwoven with mystery and much detective work.