Murder at the Vanities (1934). A wild/musical/murder mystery directed by Mitchell Leisen. Cast: Victor McLaglen, Carl Brisson, Jack Oakie, Kitty Carlisle, Gertrude Michael, Toby Wing, and Jessie Ralph. Duke Ellington and his Orchestra are featured in the elaborate finale number. Songs featured in the film by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow include: "Cocktails for Two" sung by Brisson, "Marahuana" sung by Michael, "Where Do They Come From (and Where Do They Go)" sung by Carlisle, and "Ebony Rhapsody" by Ellington. In the film, Lucille Ball, Ann Sheridan, and Virginia Davis had small roles. It was released on DVD (as part of a six disc set entitled "Pre-Code Hollywood Collection").
On opening night of "The Vanities," the star of the show, Eric, learns from private investigator Sadie, that his ex-girl friend Rita has stolen items from his apartment. Rita, who is a performer in the show, is jealous of Ann because she is engaged to Eric and to top it all off the leading lady of "The Vanities".
Among the stolen items is a picture of Eric's mother, Elsie, who is working in wardrobe under the name of Helene Smith. Only Eric, Ann and Homer, know who Elsie really is. Eric finds out that Rita has questioned the police to find out Elsie's true identity. It turns out that Elsie, is wanted for a murder that she committed many years before.
After several attempts are made on Ann's life, producer Jack calls in police chief Murdock for help. After a performance, Sadie is killed by a hatpin through her heart and her body found up in the rafters. Jack convinces Murdock to investigate without stopping the show. Rita, points a finger towards Elsie as the murderer. When a machine gun with blanks is fired at the end of the musical number "The Rape of the Rhapsody", Rita is shot to death by hatpin looking gun. A stagehand finds the murder weapon, which he gives to Jack, who keeps it hidden from the police.
Not knowing that Rita is dead, Eric goes into her dressing room and is met by Norma, Rita's maid. Norma gives him a letter to the police that Rita asked her to mail and.... tells him that she knows Elsie's true identity. As Eric burns the letter, Murdock arrests him for Rita's murder. Norma, comes forward admitting that Eric has always been kind to her and also informs the police to who the true murderer is....
Lots of twists turns during the many art- deco musical numbers. Some of the dance numbers are really pretty such as, "Cocktails for Two and "Where Do They Come From?" There's a weird number featuring Duke Ellington! Some great acting by Gertrude Michael, Kitty Carlisle and Dorothy Stickney. If you look closely you can spot Ann Sheridan and Lucille Ball among the show girls.(don't blink)
Gertrude Michael (June 1, 1911 – December 31, 1964). She began her movie debut playing Richard Arlen's fiancee in Wayward (1932), but her best-remembered role was Rita Ross in Murder at the Vanities (1934), one of the last pre-Code films, in which she sang the song "Sweet Marijuana".(you can find the song on you-tube).
Among her television appearances, Michael was seen eleven times on Fireside Theater between 1950-1955 and three times on Schlitz Playhouse.
She also made a guest appearance on Perry Mason in 1958 as Helen Rucker in "The Case of the Sun Bather's Diary."
Torch Singer(1933). Directed by Alexander Hall and George Somnes. Cast: Claudette Colbert, Ricardo Cortez and David Manners and Lyda Roberti. It was released on DVD (as part of a six disc set entitled "Pre-Code Hollywood Collection") on April 7, 2009.
Down on her luck chorus girl Sally Trent, walks into St. Anne's hospital as a unwed mother and gives birth to a baby girl. She tries her best to support her daughter, but she is forced to give her up for adoption.
Sally becomes a disreputable singer known as Mimi Benton, but while she is at her boyfriend's radio station, she fills in for the narrator of a children's hour and becomes the favorite of children all over the country.
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The father of her child, Michael Gardner, who cast her aside.. returns from China and tries to reconcile with, Sally, bet she no longer trusts him. Doing the radio show softens Sally's heart and she hires a detective to find her daughter.
The detective comes up with nothing and Sally begins drinking her troubles away. Will Sally ever find her daughter?
It's fun to see Colbert in such a spicy role, who eventually gets back on track to find her daughter. Good performances from Lyda Roberti, Ricardo Cortez and David Manners.
Lyda Roberti (May 20, 1906 – March 12, 1938), was the daughter of a clown. As a child she performed in the circus as a trapeze artist, and was a vaudeville singer. As her family toured Europe and Asia, Roberti's mother left her husband, and in order to escape the upheaval in Russia after the Communist revolution, they settled in Shanghai, China where the younger Roberti earned money singing.
They moved to the United States in the late 1920's and Roberti began singing in nightclubs.
She made her Broadway debut in You Said It(1931) and with its success became an overnight sensation.
She also appeared in the Gershwin musical, Pardon My English(1933).
Her sexy, playful characterizations, along with the unusual accent she had picked up during her years in Europe and Asia, made her popular with audiences.
She starred in: Million Dollar Legs (1932), The Woman No Man Can Resist", a Mata Hari-based spy character who is hired to undermine the President of Klopstokia (played by W. C. Fields) in his efforts to secure money for his destitute country. Her plan is to seduce the athletes that Klopstokia is sending to the Olympic Games, and prevent them from meddling. Highlights of the film include Mata Machree's steamy rendition of "When I Get Hot in Klopstokia", and the dance she performs to inspire Fields's opponent in the weightlifting competition.
Roberti replaced Thelma Todd in a couple of films after the death of Todd, but her health was failing due to heart disease. She began to work less frequently although two days before her death she performed a radio show with Al Jolson.
According to her friend and co-star Patsy Kelly, Roberti died suddenly from a heart attack while bending to tie her shoelace. At the time of her death, she was married to broadcaster Bud Ernest.
Hot Saturday(1932). A drama film directed by William A. Seiter. Cast: Nancy Carroll, Cary Grant and Randolph Scott. Based on the novel Hot Saturday by Harvey Fergusson.
The film was Cary Grant's first movie as leading man.
Carole Lombard was mentioned for the role eventually played by Nancy Carroll.
Hot Saturday was released on DVD as part of a three disc, six film set entitled Pre-Code Hollywood Collection on April 7, 2009.
Young people in small town America, enjoy spending their Hot Saturday nights at Willow Springs, a lakeside dance hall. Wealthy, Romer Sheffield, owns a summer home on the lake, sets his cap for Ruth Brock, who works at the town bank owned by Mr. Randolph.
To please Ruth, Romer hosts a party for her friends on Saturday evening. Although Ruth arrives at the party with Connie, she spends the evening with Romer, when she returns to the party she finds that everyone has left for Willow Springs.
When Ruth and Connie go for a boat ride, she refuses to neck with him and he leaves her stranded on the beach. Walking through the woods, Ruth finds Romer's house and innocently spends the night with him.
When evil Eva, the banker's daughter, sees Ruth arriving home in Romer's car, she starts a rumor that Ruth spent the night with Romer.
After arriving home, Ruth finds Bill Fadden, in her kitchen. Bill is about to leave on a geological survey.
Ruth's reputation is ruined by Monday morning and to make matters worse Mr. Randolph fires her. Although her father defends her, Ruth's mother believes the gossip and is more worried about the family's loss of income than Ruth.
Ruth runs away in a rain storm to Bill's camp, where they make plans to marry.
While at Willow Springs dance, Romer, asks Ruth to dance, but leaves when he learns she is to be married. Bill, overhears Connie talking about the scandal and is furious that Ruth did not tell him about Romer. Realizing Bill does not trust her, Ruth leaves with Romer. Who is Ruth going to decide to marry?
Nancy Carroll, (who looks a little like Claudette Colbert), does a wonderful job in her performance as an innocent young girl, who is almost destroyed by evil gossip. Cary Grant, is very charming cad and a joy to watch. The ending is a lie that turns into the truth..
Nancy Carroll (November 19, 1903 – August 6, 1965), she and her sister once performed a dancing act in a local contest of amateur talent. This led her to a stage career and then to the screen.
She began her acting career in Broadway musicals.
She became a successful actress in "talkies" because her musical background enabled her to play in the movie musicals of the 1930's.
Her film debut was in Ladies Must Dress in 1927.
In 1928 she made eight films. One of them, Easy Come, Easy Go, co-starring Richard Dix, made her a star.
In 1930 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Devil's Holiday.
Among her other films: Laughter (1930), Paramount on Parade (1930), Hot Saturday (1932) with Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933) directed by James Whale, and Broken Lullaby aka The Man I Killed (1932).
Under contract to Paramount Pictures, Carroll often balked at the roles being offered to her and earned a reputation as a recalcitrant and uncooperative actress.
In spite of her ability to successfully tackle light comedies, tearful melodramas, and even musicals, and as well as garnering considerable praise by the critics and public (she received the most fan mail of any star in the early 1930's), she was released by the studio.
In the mid-1930's under a four-film contract with Columbia Pictures, she made four rather insignificant films and was no longer an A-list actress. Carroll retired from films in 1938, returned to the stage, and starred in the early television series The Aldrich Family in 1950.
In the following year, she guest starred in the television version of The Egg and I, starring her daughter, Patricia Kirkland.
On August 6, 1965, she was found dead after failing to arrive at the theater for a performance. The cause of her death was an aneurysm. She was 61 years old.
Merrily We Go to Hell(1932). Pre-Code. Cast: Fredric March, Sylvia Sidney and Cary Grant. Directed by Dorothy Arzner. The film's title is an example of the titles that were common in the Pre-Code era. Many newspapers refused to publicize the film because of its racy title.
A heavy drinking Chicago newspaper reporter and aspiring playwright Jerry Corbett and socialite Joan Prentice fall in love and become engaged. Because of Jerry's reputation Joan's father does his best to prevent the marriage, offering Jerry money to leave his daughter, but Jerry refuses.
When a drunk Jerry shows up late to their engagement party, everyone thinks Joan will back out of the marriage, but love is blind and she goes ahead with the marriage. Jerry works on his plays and remains sober even while receiving rejection notices from publishers.
One day, Jerry's play "When a Woman Says No" is bought, and he and Joan go to New York for the production. The play stars Jerry's former lover, Claire Hempstead. The night of the premiere, Jerry celebrates and when his friend Buck brings him home drunk, Jerry mistakes Joan for Claire. Although she realizes Jerry started drinking again, Joan continues to stay with him. When she finds him leaving to go to Claire's, she informs him that she has decided to find a lover herself.
So, while Jerry is making his "Merrily we go to hell" toast with Claire, Joan toasts the "holy state of matrimony single lives, single beds and triple bromides in the morning" with her new lover, Charlie Baxter.
On New Year's Eve, Joan finds out that she is pregnant and is warned by her doctor to take it easy. She tries to tell Jerry, but he refuses to listen. Jerry soon realizes that Claire means nothing to him. Jerry returns to Chicago, works again at the newspaper and remains sober, but Joan's father prevents him from contacting her. Will Jerry and Joan ever reunite and become husband and wife again ?
Fredric March, always seems to give a good performance as drunken characters and he would get Oscar nominations for A Star Is Born and Death Of A Salesman.
For once Sylvia Sidney gets the opportunity to play a beautiful rich girl. (She reminds me of Drew Barrymore). You will not want to miss a very young Cary Grant playing a small role as Joan's lover .
Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999), using the surname Sidney, she became an actress at the age of fifteen as a way of overcoming shyness.
As a student of the Theater Guild's School for Acting, Sidney appeared in several of their productions during the 1920's and earned praise from theater critics.
In 1926, she was seen by a Hollywood talent scout and made her first film appearance later that year.
During the Depression, Sidney appeared in a string of films, often playing the girlfriend or the sister of a gangster.
She appeared opposite such heavyweight screen idols as Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda, Joel McCrea, Fredric March, George Raft (a frequent screen partner), and Cary Grant.
Among her films from this period were: An American Tragedy, City Streets and Street Scene (all 1931), Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage and Fritz Lang's Fury (both 1936), You Only Live Once, Dead End (both 1937) and The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, an early three-strip Technicolor film. It was during this period that she developed a reputation for being difficult to work with.
After what seemed to be a promising second phase of her career playing opposite the likes of James Cagney in films like Blood on the Sun (1945) with a considerably more glamorous screen persona, her career diminished somewhat during the 1940's. In 1949 exhibitors voted her "box office poison". In 1952, she played the role of Fantine in Les Miserables, and her performance was widely praised and allowed her opportunities to develop as a character actress.
Sidney appeared three times on CBS's Playhouse 90 anthology series. On May 16, 1957, she appeared as Lulu Morgan, mother of singer Helen Morgan in "The Helen Morgan Story." In that same presentation Polly Bergen was nominated for an Emmy award for her portrayal of Helen Morgan.
Four months later, Sidney joined Bergen, then twenty-seven, on the premiere of the short-lived NBC variety show, The Polly Bergen Show.
In 1973, Sidney received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams.
As an elderly woman Sidney continued to play supporting screen roles, and was identifiable by her husky voice, the result of a lifetime cigarette smoking habit. She was the formidable Miss Coral in the film version of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and later was cast as Aidan Quinn's grandmother in the television production of An Early Frost for which she won a Golden Globe Award. She played Aunt Marion in Damien: Omen II and had key roles in Beetlejuice (directed by longtime Sidney fan Tim Burton), as Juno, for which she won a Saturn Award, and Used People (which co-starred Jessica Tandy, Marcello Mastroianni, Marcia Gay Harden, Kathy Bates and Shirley MacLaine).
Her final role was in another film by Burton, Mars Attacks!, in which she played a senile grandmother whose beloved Slim Whitman records stop an alien invasion from Mars when played over a loudspeaker.
On television, she appeared in the first episode as the imperious mother of Gordon Jump in WKRP in Cincinnati; as the troubled grandmother of Melanie Mayron in the comedy-drama Thirtysomething and, finally, as the crotchety travel clerk on the short-lived late-1990's revival of Fantasy Island with Malcolm McDowell, Fyvush Finkel and Mädchen Amick. She also appeared in an episode of Dear John.
Sidney's Broadway theatre career spanned five decades, from her debut performance as a graduate of the Theatre Guild School in the June 1926 3-act fantasy Prunella to the Tennessee Williams play Vieux Carré in 1977. Additional credits include The Fourposter, Enter Laughing, and Barefoot in the Park.
In 1982, Sidney was awarded The George Eastman Award, given by George Eastman House for distinguished contribution to the art of film.
As a single woman, Sidney was involved in an affair with B.P. Schulberg at Paramount Pictures. When Schulberg's previous mistress, Clara Bow, began experiencing personal problems in 1931, Sidney replaced her in City Streets.
Sidney was married three times. She first married publisher Bennett Cerf on 1 October 1935, but the couple were divorced shortly after on April 9, 1936. She then was married to actor and acting teacher Luther Adler from 1938 until 1947, by whom she had a son, Jacob (Jody) (October 22, 1939 – 1987) who died of Lou Gehrig's disease. During her marriage to Luther Adler she was a sister-in-law to acclaimed stage actress and drama teacher Stella Adler. On March 5, 1947, she married radio producer and announcer Carlton Alsop. They were divorced on March 22, 1951.
Sidney died from throat cancer in New York City a month before her 89th birthday, after a career spanning more than 70 years. She bequeathed her black pug Malcolm to the National Arts Club, where the canine became a much loved mascot and noted attender of social events, celebrated in a short film by Carol Wilder.
She was skilled at needlepoint. She sold needlepoint kits featuring her designs, and she published two popular instruction books: Sylvia Sidney's Needlepoint Book (1968) and The Sylvia Sidney Question and Answer Book on Needlepoint (1975).
Sidney was also a staunch Republican and conservative.
The Cheat (1931). Pre film code directed by George Abbott. Cast: Talullah Bankhead and Harvey Stephens. It is a remake of the 1915 silent film of the same name which was directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
Compulsive gambler Elsa Carlyle, wants to live her life to the fullest. Her husband Jeffrey, is a struggling stockbroker, who loves her despite her gambling addition. At the yacht club, Elsa overhears Hardy Livingstone say the word "luck," just as she is about to throw the dice and she decides to bet all her chips. She loses $10,000.
Later that evening, Elsa accepts Livingstone's invitation and they travel by boat to his house. She finds that Livingstone, is a smooth talker with an Oriental obsession. He offers to help out with her debt but at a very high price.
He shows Elsa his doll collection which is made in the likeness of his former lovers. At the dolls base they are stamped with the words "I possess." Livingstone, then offers her a dress of a Siamese princess to Elsa to wear to the "milk fund" ball. Elsa, tells him that she's in love with her husband and refuses to take the dress.
When Elsa goes home, Jeffrey lets her know he is jealous of Livingstone and does not want her to see him again.
When Jeffrey's friend Terrell tells them of a hot stock tip, Elsa is unable to resist the temptation and uses the money she had been entrusted with from the "milk fund" ball into the stock market.
Elsa, decides to wear Livingstone's princess gown to the ball, but is upset when she receives a phone call from Terrell saying that she lost all the money. Overhearing her conversation, Livingstone offers to give her the money. In exchange, he expects her to be "a little nicer" to him. Elsa accepts his offer and repays the milk fund .
That night, Jeffrey arrives home, informing her that they are now millionaires. She confesses her gambling debt, which Jeffrey has already paid. When she asks for another $10,000, he gives it to her, then follows her to Livingstone's.
Elsa gives Livingstone the check believing her debt is paid, but Livingstone has already made a doll in her likeness. When she refuses.. he"tattoos" her with his crest and calls her a "cheat". Elsa shoots him and runs home.
Jeffrey finds Livingstone and takes the blame for the crime. Will Elsa come forward with the truth?
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Tallulah, is really a one of a kind actress and I have to say... she really captures your interest in this racy pre-code. If you enjoy pre-code's, the actress Tallulah and amazing costumes of the 30's, this film is for you..
Tallulah Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968), her "first performance" was for the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur. Her Aunt Marie gave the brothers a party at her home in which the guests were asked to entertain.
At 15, Bankhead won a movie-magazine beauty contest and soon after she moved to New York. She quickly landed bit parts, first appearing in a non-speaking role in, The Squab Farm.
She became a member of the Algonquin Round Table and was known as a hard-partying girl-about-town. During this time she began to use cocaine and marijuana.
In 1918 she made her stage debut at the Bijou Theatre in New York.
In 1923, she made her debut on the London stage at Wyndham's Theatre. Where she perform in over a dozen plays in the next eight years. Her fame as an actress was ensured in 1924 when she performed in, They Knew What They Wanted. The show won the 1925 Pulitzer Prize.
She was famous not only as an actress but also for her many affairs and her wild personality. Her longest known affair during this time in her life was with an Italian businessman named Anthony de Bosdari, which lasted just over one year.
While in London, Bankhead bought herself a Bentley, which she loved to drive. She was not very good with directions and constantly found herself lost in the London streets. She would telephone a taxi-cab and pay the driver to drive to her destination while she followed behind in her car.
Bankhead's first film was, Tarnished Lady (1931), directed by George Cukor and the pair became fast friends. Bankhead behaved herself on the set and filming went smoothly, but she found film-making to be very boring.
Bankhead was not very interested in making films, but the opportunity to make $50,000 per film was too good to pass up. Her 1932 movie Devil and the Deep is best known for the three major co-stars, with Bankhead receiving top billing over Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton and Cary Grant and is the only film with both Cooper and Grant as the film's leading men.
Video: First of 6.
In 1934, she returned to England and after a short stay, she was called back to New York to play in the film, Dark Victory. Although, Bette Davis played the leading character in the 1939 film version, she admitted later that she was emulating Bankhead.
David O. Selznick, producer of Gone with the Wind (1939) called her the "first choice among established stars" to play Scarlett O'Hara. Although her screen test for the role in black-and-white was superb, she photographed poorly in Technicolor. Selznick also reportedly believed that at age 36, she was too old to play Scarlett, who is 16 at the beginning of the film (the role eventually went to Vivien Leigh). Selznick sent Kay Brown to Bankhead to "sound her out" about playing prostitute Belle Watling in the film, which she turned down.
Returning to Broadway, Bankhead's career stalled after performing in a couple unmemorable plays.
In 1944, Alfred Hitchcock cast her as Constance Porter, in her most successful film, Lifeboat. Which won her the New York Film Critics Circle Award.
Even though Bankhead's career slowed in the mid-1950's she continued to perform on Broadway, occasional films, radio and in television.
Bankhead's most popular television appearance was her December 3, 1957, appearance on The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show. Bankhead played herself in the classic episode titled "The Celebrity Next Door". The part was originally planned for Bette Davis, but Davis had to bow out after cracking her vertebra. Lucille Ball reportedly was a fan of Bankhead's and did a good impression of her. By the time the episode was filmed, both Ball and Desi Arnaz were extremely frustrated by Bankhead's bad behavior during rehearsals. Ball and Arnaz did not know about Bankhead's ability to memorize a script quickly. After rehearsals, the filming of the episode went without a hitch and Ball congratulated Bankhead on her performance.
Video: "The Celebrity Next Door."
Her last motion picture was a British horror film, Fanatic (1965), co-starring Stefanie Powers, which was released in the U.S. as Die! Die! My Darling!.
Her last performance onscreen came in March 1967 as the villainous Black Widow in the Batman TV series, and on the December 17, 1967, episode of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour comedy-variety TV series, in the "Mahta Harry" skit.
Bankhead was an avid baseball fan whose favorite team was the New York Giants.
Bankhead, is credited with having helped Truman win by belittling his rival, New York's Governor Thomas E. Dewey.
Bankhead married actor John Emery, the son of stage actors Edward Emery (circa 1861–1938) and Isabel Waldron (1871–1950), on August 31, 1937. Bankhead filed for divorce in Reno, Nevada, in May 1941. It was finalized on June 13, 1941. Bankhead had no children but was the godmother of Brook and Brockman Seawell, children of her lifelong friend, actress Eugenia Rawls, and Rawls's husband, Donald Seawell.
On December 12, 1968, Bankhead died at the age of 66. The cause of death was double pneumonia, complicated by emphysema, malnutrition and possibly a strain of the Hong Kong flu.
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