Lady in the Box Synopsis & Summary

Film noir comes to the Midwest in this dark thriller. Jerry (Darren E. Burrows) runs a tiny bar near the Milwaukee waterfront, where business is bad and crime is often worse. Jerry's money problems are especially worrisome for him lately, since he's acquired a new girlfriend Jill (Paige Rowland) with rather expensive tastes. Near the end of his rope, Jerry is asked by Doug (Mark Sheppard), who stops into the tavern for a drink, to do him a bit of a favor -- if Jerry will dump an old trunk into the lake without asking any questions, Doug will give him $500 in cash. Jerry agrees, but after dropping the trunk into the drink, Jerry goes back to his place to find his girlfriend missing, blood all over the floor, and a woman's scalp left behind. So what did Jerry just throw away? Has Doug just implicated Jerry in a murder? What's become of Jill? And what else has Doug been up to? - Mark Deming, All Movie Guide