Ann Patchett, on reading:

 

It's always better to have too much to read than not enough.
- Ann Patchett.

Recommended reading - The Canary Murder Case

 

The Canary Murder Case

by S.S. Van Dine.

First published 1927.
Library of Congress Crime Classics.

Paperback.
Edited by Leslie S. Klinger.
 
Description:
Philo Vance #2.

At the height if his popularity, S.S. Vane Dine pens a locked-room mystery with a lethal dose of sex and sin where infamous actress, "The Canary," is murdered in her cage after a passionate night with her lover.

Margaret Odell, the famous Broadway beauty and ex-Follies girl known as "The Canary", is found murdered in her ransacked apartment, her jewelry stolen. It appears to be a robbery gone wrong, but the police can find no physical evidence to pinpoint a culprit. No one witnessed anyone entering or leaving, and the only unwatched entrance to the apartment building was bolted from the inside.

Who could have killed the Canary in her locked cage? Margaret was seeing a number of men, ranging from high society gentleman to ruthless gangsters, and more than one man visited her apartment on the night she died.

Born on this day – Dorothy Lovett:

Dorothy Lovett

Actress

February 16, 1915 – April 28, 1998

Credits:

A Patch of Blue (1965); Lassie (1965); The Donna Reed Show (1961–1963); Tales of Wells Fargo (1962); Why Must I Die? (1960); City Detective (1954); Chevron Theatre (1952); The Mantrap (1943); Powder Town (1942); Sing Your Worries Away (1942); Call Out the Marines (1942); Look Who's Laughing (1941); They Meet Again (1941); Lucky Devils (1941); The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940); Remedy for Riches (1940); Dr. Christian Meets the Women (1940); The Courageous Dr. Christian (1940); That's Right - You're Wrong (1939); Meet Dr. Christian (1939); These Glamour Girls (1939); Fixer Dugan (1939); The Flying Irishman (1939); The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939); Twelve Crowded Hours (1939).

Born on this day – Joseph Langland:

 

Joseph Langland

Writer

February 16, 1917 – April 9, 2007

Credits:

A Dream of Love (1986); An Interview and Fourteen Poems (1973); Any Body’s Song (1980); Selected Poems (1992); The Green Town (1956); The Sacrifice Poems (1975); The Wheel of Summer (1963); Twelve Preludes and Postludes (1988).

Born on this day – Vera-Ellen:

Vera-Ellen

Actress

Dancer

February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981

Credits:

Let’s Be Happy (1957); The Ford Television Theatre (1957); Lux Video Theatre (1954); White Christmas (1954); Big Leaguer (1953); Call Me Madam (1953); The Belle of New York (1952); Happy Go Lovely (1951); Three Little Words (1950); On the Town (1949); Love Happy (1949); Words and Music (1948); Costa Rica (1947); Three Little Girls in Blue (1946); The Kid from Brooklyn (1946); Wonder Man (1945).

Born on this day – John Schlesinger:

John Schlesinger

Director

February 16, 1926 – July 25, 2003

Credits:

A Kind of Loving (1962); A Loan from Lorenzo (1953); A Woman of Property (1957); Aggie (1957); An Englishman Abroad (1983); Armchair Theatre (1957); As I Was Saying (1955); Assignment Foreign Legion (1957); BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1953); Big City (1956); Billy Liar (1963); Black Tide (1958); Brothers in Law (1957); Cold Comfort Farm (1995); Colonel March of Scotland Yard (1956); Darling (1965); Der Rosenkavalier (1994); Eye for an Eye (1996); Far from the Madding Crowd (1967); Honky Tonk Freeway (1981); ITV Television Playhouse (1957); Ivanhoe (1958); Madame Sousatzka (1988); Madame Sousatzka (1988); Marathon Man (1976); Midnight Cowboy (1969); Monitor (1958–1961); Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955); Pacific Heights (1990); Paul McCartney: Little Willow (1997); Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1956); Sailor of the King (1953); Screen One (1991); Screen Two (1985); Separate Tables (1983); Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971); Sunday in the Park (1956); Terminus (1961); The Adventures of Annabel (1955); The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956–1957); The Beasts of Marseilles (1957); The Believers (1987); The Buccaneers (1956); The Day of the Locust (1975); The Divided Heart (1954); The Falcon and the Snowman (1985); The Grove Family (1956–1957); The Innocent (1993); The Last Man to Hang (1956); The Lost Language of Cranes (1991); The McCartney Years (2007); The Next Best Thing (2000); The Starfish (1952); The Tale of Sweeney Todd (1997); The Twilight of the Golds (1996); The Vise (1955); The Wednesday Play (1967); The Why Store: Father (1996); Un ballo in maschera (1990); Visions of Eight (1973); Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years (1960); Yanks (1979).

Born on this day – Sol Negrin:

 

Sol Negrin

Cinematographer

Producer

Actor

February 16, 1929 – March 20, 2017

Credits:

...and Your Name Is Jonah (1979); A Call to Arms (2008); Across 110th Street (1972); Amazing Grace (1974); Baker's Dozen (1982); Blue Shirts (2000); Car 54, Where Are You? (1961–1963); Clean and Sober (1988); Coming to America (1988); Crazy Joe (1974); Dear John (1988); Dempsey (1983); East Side/West Side (1963–1964); Eischied (1979); Fame (1984); Great Performances (1971); Happy Hell Night (1991); I, the Jury (1982); Jamboree! (1957); Jaws 2 (1978); Johnny Garage (1983); Kay O'Brien (1986); Kojak (1974–1977); Light Fantastic (1964); Lime Street (1985); McCloud (1974); More Than Friends (1978); Naked City (1958–1959); Parades (1972); Pink (2010); Proof of the Man (1977); Redd Foxx: Video in a Plain Brown Wrapper (1983); RoboCop (1987); Sacred Eyes (2009); Salsa (1976); Some Trouble of a SeRRious Nature (2002); St. Elsewhere (1982–1983); Superman (1978); The Bedroom (2012); The Concert for Bangladesh (1972); The Deer (2009); The Defenders (1961–1962); The Edge of Town (2012); The Kingdom Chums: Little David's Adventure (1986); The Last Tenant (1978); The Line (1980); The Lucie Arnaz Show (1985); The Nothing Man (2010); The Patty Duke Show (1963–1964); The Rack (2002); The Scourge of the Vagabond Spectre (2009); The Story Lady (1991); The White Shadow (1980); Voodoo Blood Death (1965); Where's Poppa? (1970); Women at West Point (1979).

Born on this day – Olga James:

 

Olga James

Actress

Singer

February 16, 1929 – January 25, 2025

Credits:

Music:

Cannonball Adderley Presents the Nat Adderley Sextet Plus Rick Holmes / Soul of the Bible (1972); Carmen Jones / Original Movie Soundtrack (1954); David Axelrod / Heavy Axe (1974); Sammy Davis Jr. / 1956 Broadway Cast / Mr. Wonderful (1956); The Cannonball Adderley Quintet / The Happy People (1972).

Movies and television:

Carmen Jones (1954); Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty (2003); Hollywood Singing & Dancing: A Musical History - 1980s, 1990s and 2000s (2009); Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical (2009); Omnibus (1978); Sealab 2020 (1972); The Bill Cosby Show (1969–1971); The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956); Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium (1957).

Born on this day – Ron Faber:

Ron Faber

Actor

February 16, 1933 – March 26, 2023

Credits:

Back to Me (2008); Hope & Faith (2004); Third Watch (2000); Calling Bobcat (2000); Law & Order (1991–1998); Romeo Is Bleeding (1993); Navy Seals (1990); The Edge of Night (1983); Running Out (1983); Soup for One (1982); Bill (1981); Hardhat and Legs (1980); On the Yard (1978); The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977); Kojak (1977); The American Parade (1976); L'arbre de Guernica (1975); The Exorcist (1973).

On this day in movie history - The Canary Murder Case (1929)

The Canary Murder Case

directed by Malcolm St. Clair,

written by S.S. Van Dine, Albert Shelby LeVino, Florence Ryerson and Herman J. Mankiewicz,

based on the novel by S.S. Van Dine,

was released in France on February 16, 1929.

Music by Karl Hajos.

 

Cast:

William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Hall, Louise Brooks, Margaret Livingston, Charles Lane, Lawrence Grant, Gustav von Seyffertitz, E. H. Calvert, Eugene Pallette, Ned Sparks, Louis John Bartels, Tim Adair, Oscar Smith.

On this day in movie history - La Jetée (1962)

La Jetée

a.k.a. The Jetty / The Pier,

directed and written by Chris Marker,

the inspiration for 12 Monkeys (1995), directed by Terry Gilliam,

was released in France on February 16, 1962.

Narrated by Jean Négroni.

Music by Trevor Duncan.

Cast:

Hélène Châtelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux, André Heinrich, Jacques Branchu, Pierre Joffroy, Etienne Becker, Philbert von Lifchitz, Ligia Borowczyk, Janine Klein, William Klein, Germano Facetti.

On this day in movie history - Fear City (1984)

Fear City

directed by Abel Ferrara,

written by Nicholas St. John,

was released in France on February 16, 1985.

Music by Dick Halligan and Joe Delia.

Cast:

Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams, Jack Scalia, Melanie Griffith, Rossano Brazzi, Rae Dawn Chong, Joe Santos, Michael V. Gazzo, Jan Murray, Janet Julian, Daniel Faraldo, Maria Conchita Alonso, Ola Ray, John Foster, Emilia Crow, Nina Jones, Frank Ronzio, Juan Fernández, Jim Boeke, Carl Strano, Ben Kronen, Madison Mason, Bill Henderson, Victor Rivers, Joe Palese, Joe Shea, Bob Yothers, John Roselius, Tracy Griffith, Lori Eastside, Sharon Anton, Barbara Andrews, Jim Brewer, Álvaro López, Eddie Ruffalo, Joy Michael, Linda Lee, Peter Mele, Robert Miano, Raphael Berko, Antony Ponzini, Frank Sivero, Brent Jennings, Jihmi Kennedy, Robert Giarratano, Peter Gumeny, Justin De Rosa, Adrian McKnight, John Barons, Kendall Carly Browne, Nancy Mott, Christine Greenberg, Tricia Brown, Neil Clifford, John Del Rico, Helen Kelly, Tony LaFortezza, Annabelle Larsen, Don Nakaya Neilsen, David Ward.