Bureau of Missing Persons(1933). Drama/comedy, directed by Roy Del Ruth. Cast: Bette Davis, Lewis Stone, Pat O'Brien and Glenda Farrell. The screenplay by Robert Presnell is based on a story by Carol Bird adapted from the book Missing Men by former New York City police captain John H. Ayres.
When by the book Detective Butch Saunders, is assigned to Norma Roberts' missing husband case, he finds himself attracted to her. He is very disappointed to learn that, she is also wanted for her husbands murder.
Later, when the police find her clothes on the dock, Butch is sure that Norma didn't commit suicide. He stages a fake funeral to try and to lure her out from hiding. Just as he had hoped, she attends the funeral. Norma, tells Butch that when she was Roberts' private secretary, she found out he had an mentally handicapped twin brother. He killed his brother, making it look like he himself was dead to escape embezzlement charges. Butch, takes him in to the Bureau of Missing Persons. Will Webb be able to get him to admit the truth and will Norma be cleared of murder?
If you are a fan of the Hollywood films of the Thirties and Forties, you will love this fast moving classic film. All the characters are perfect in their roles and there are some interesting plot twists near the end. Davis, as young actress, looked absolutely beautiful in this film.
Robby, from: Dear Old Hollywood Blogspot: Bureau Of Missing Persons(1933).. Wrote a very interesting post on some real LA locations in the film. Please stop by and check out his awesome post.
She is best known for her performances in the films: Little Caesar (1931), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), Havana Widows (1933), Bureau of Missing Persons (1933), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and The Big Shakedown (1934).
She became one of Warner Brothers’ most prolific actresses of the 1930s, solidifying her success with her own film film series, as Torchy Blane, "Girl Reporter". In this role Farrell was promoted as being able to speak 400 words in 40 seconds. Farrell would portray the character Torchy Blane in approximately eight films, from 1937 to 1939 when the role was taken over by Jane Wyman.
In 1937 she starred opposite Dick Powell and Joan Blondell in the Academy Award nominated Lloyd Bacon and Busby Berkeley directed musical comedy, Gold Diggers(1937).
Farrell went out of vogue in the 1940s but made a comeback later in life, winning an Emmy Award in 1963, for her work in the television series Ben Casey.
Dawn, I recently watched Bureau of Missing Persons and thought it was less than stellar. But, I did enjoy seeing one of Bette Davis' earliest film roles. You could already tell she was too big for a film like the one she found herself in. There are a lot of twists and turns in it, though, so it has a good pace.
ReplyDeleteI just love your photos, awesome, good eye.
ReplyDeleteNice post Dawn. Although not the greatest film, it does have some nice moments. My favorite scene is where Pat O'Brien and Bette Davis are in a diner - and I can't remember exactly what O'Brien says, but something along the lines of pass the salt - and salt comes sliding across the table - pass the sugar - and sugar comes sliding across the table and then the next thing he asks for everything comes sliding across the table.
ReplyDeleteWe also get a glimpse of some real LA locations which is always neat to see. I did a post on them a while back:
http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com/2011/04/bureau-of-missing-persons-1933-film.html
Dawn! What an AMAZING photo of Bette! I've never seen it, or anything like it. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteKim, seeing a young Bette Davis, is definately the best part of the film, "Bureau of Missing persons.
ReplyDeleteRory, Thank you.. I really enjoy classic picture hunting. :)
Robby Cress, One of the reasons I love to watch classic films, is to see what real locations looked like back when the movie was made. I also love/love to see the classic cars and the clothes of the era. I will add a link to your post to my article.
Martin Turnbull, I thought the picture of Bette, was amazing. I found it on bing.com images.