On this day in movie and book history - The Canary Murder Case (1929 and 1927)

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.

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 – Jean Arthur:

Jean Arthur

Actress

October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991

Credits:

4 Clowns (1970); A Foreign Affair (1948); A Lady Takes a Chance (1943); A Man of Nerve (1925); Adventure in Manhattan (1936); AFI Life Achievement Award (1980); America at the Movies (1976); American Masters (1989); Arizona (1940); Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel (2001); Biff Bang Buddy (1924); Bigger and Better Blondes (1927); Billy Wilder Speaks (2006); Born to Battle (1926); Bringin' Home the Bacon (1924); Brotherly Love (1928); Cameo Kirby (1923); Case Dismissed (1924); Clara Bow: Discovering the It Girl (1999); Compression (2023–2024); Danger Lights (1930); Diamond Jim (1935); Double Daring (1926); Easy Living (1937); Eight-Cylinder Bull (1926); Ex-Bad Boy (1931); False Positive (2021); Fast and Fearless (1924); Flying Luck (1927); Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1999); Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero (1998); George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1984); Get That Venus (1933); Going Hollywood: The '30s (1984); Gunsmoke (1965); Half Way to Heaven (1929); Hello Lafayette (1927); History Is Made at Night (1937); Hollywood: The Selznick Years (1969); Horse Shoes (1927); Husband Hunters (1927); If You Could Only Cook (1935); I'll Be There (1927); Lightning Bill (1926); Monks a la Mode (1923); More Than a Secretary (1936); Most Precious Thing in Life (1934); Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936); Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939); My Little Brother (1924); Only Angels Have Wings (1939); Paramount op parade (1930); Party Wire (1935); Public Hero Number 1 (1935); Ridin' Rivals (1926); Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12 (1938); Screen Snapshots Series 19, No 10 (1940); Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1 (1939); Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 2 (1939); Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 24 (1930); Seven Chances (1925); Shane (1953); Sins of the Fathers (1928); Somebody Lied (1923); Spring Fever (1923); Stairs of Sand (1929); Street of Chance (1930); Stu's Show (2023); Tearin' Loose (1925); The Block Signal (1926); The Broken Gate (1927); The Canary Murder Case (1929); The College Boob (1926); The Cowboy Cop (1926); The Defense Rests (1934); The Devil and Miss Jones (1941); The Drug Store Cowboy (1925); The Ed Sullivan Show (1955); The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936); The Fighting Cheat (1926); The Fighting Smile (1925); The Gang Buster (1931); The Greene Murder Case (1929); The Hurricane Horseman (1925); The Impatient Years (1944); The Jean Arthur Show (1966); The Lady with the Torch (1999); The Lawyer's Secret (1931); The Mad Racer (1926); The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988); The Masked Menace (1927); The Merv Griffin Show (1973–1974); The More the Merrier (1943); The Movies (2019); The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu (1929); The Past of Mary Holmes (1933); The Plainsman (1936); The Poor Nut (1927); The Powerful Eye (1924); The Public Menace (1935); The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930); The Roaring Rider (1926); The Saturday Night Kid (1929); The Silver Horde (1930); The Talk of the Town (1942); The Whole Town's Talking (1935); This Is Your Life (1955); Thundering Romance (1924); Thundering Through (1925); Too Many Husbands (1940); Travelin' Fast (1924); Twisted Triggers (1926); Under Fire (1926); Virtuous Husband (1931); Wallflowers (1928); Warming Up (1928); Whirlpool (1934); Wine of Youth (1924); Winners of the Wilderness (1927); Yesterday and Today (1953); You Can't Take It with You (1938); Young Eagles (1930).

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

The Greene Murder Case

directed by Frank Tuttle,

written by Louise Long and Richard H. Digges Jr.,

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

was released in the United States on August 11, 1929.

Music by Karl Hajos.

Cast:

William Powell, Florence Eldridge, Ullrich Haupt, Sr., Jean Arthur, Eugene Pallette, E. H. Calvert, Gertrude Norman, Lowell Drew, Morgan Farley, Brandon Hurst, Augusta Burmeister, Marcia Harris.

On this day in movie history - Public Hero Number 1 (1935)

Public Hero Number 1

directed by J. Walter Ruben,

written by Wells Root,

based on a story by J. Walter Ruben and Wells Root,

was released in the United States on May 16, 1935.

Music by Edward Ward.

 

Cast:

Lionel Barrymore, Jean Arthur, Chester Morris, Joseph Calleia, Paul Kelly, Lewis Stone, Paul Hurst, George E. Stone, Sam Baker, William Bailey, Brooks Benedict, Ed Brady, Frank Bruno, Lane Chandler, Cora Sue Collins, Helene Costello, Nell Craig, Frank Darien, James Flavin, Harry Geise, John George, Jonathan Hale, Henry Hall, Lillian Harmer, Eddie Hart, Edward Hearn, Al Hill, Arthur Housman, William Irving, Selmer Jackson, Gladden James, John Kelly, Anderson Lawler, Frank McGlynn Jr., Larry McGrath, Greta Meyer, Bob Montgomery, Bert Moorhouse, Frank Moran, Philip Morris, James C. Morton, Pat O'Malley, Jack Pennick, Lee Phelps, Russ Powell, Stanley Price, Frank Rice, Bert Roach, Teru Shimada, Landers Stevens, Carl Stockdale, Billy Sullivan, Zeffie Tilbury, Dorothy Vernon, Larry Wheat, Bill Wolfe, William Worthington, Tammany Young