This week’s mystery movie was the 1936 MGM picture “Small Town Girl,” starring Janet Gaynor and Robert Taylor. It featured Binnie Barnes, Andy Devine, Lewis Stone, Elizabeth Patterson, Frank Craven and James Stewart. It was directed by William A. Wellman,  with a script by John Lee Mahin, Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett and Edith Fitzgerald from the book by Ben Ames Williams.

I chose it because I wanted to do a film edited by Blanche Sewell and most of her films are too well known to be a mystery movie.

Portions of the film were shot on the Monterey Peninsula and the crew set up its headquarters at Carmel, according to the Los Angeles Times. It opened in Los Angeles at Loew’s State and Grauman’s Chinese theaters on April 24, 1936, on a bill with “Charlie Chan at the Circus.” Edwin Schallert  of The Timesc alled it one of Gaynor’s best pictures.

MGM’s 1953 remake with Farley Granger and  Jane Powell is available on DVD. The 1936 version is not, as far as I can tell.

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This week’s mystery movie has been the 1944 Warner Bros. picture “The Conspirators,” with Hedy Lamarr and Paul Henreid (Friday’s mystery guests), Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre (Friday’s mystery guests), Victor Francen, Joseph Calleia (Thursday’s mystery guest), Carol Thurston, Vladimir Sokoloff, Edward Ciannelli, Steven Garay (Thursday’s mystery guest) and Kurt Katch (Wednesday’s mystery guest). The screenplay was by Vladimir Pozner and Leo Rosten with additional dialogue by Jack Moffitt, based on a novel by Fredric Prokosch. The music was by Max Steiner. Directed by former mystery guest Jean Negulesco.

There were lots of interesting guesses on this film. Several people guessed “Mask of Dimitrios” which holds a special place in my heart because it was the first movie I stayed up all night to see when WGN in Chicago started running movies all night on the weekends in the early 1960s. But far too easy for the brain trust. “Gilda” was another popular guess. But again, too easy for the brain trust.

The DVD is available from TCM or for a few dollars less from Warner Archive. Continue reading →

This week’s mystery production was the 1961 “Perry Mason” episode “The Case of the Envious Editor,” which deals with the publisher (James Coburn) of a magazine company who tries to boost its declining circulation by pandering to the lowest common denominator with sexually oriented material. And things go horribly wrong – at least for him.

“The Case of the Envious Editor” was directed by Laslo Benedek and written by Milton Krims. The story consultant was Jackson Gillis.  It starred series regulars Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Hopper and Ray Collins, and guests Philip Abbott, James H. Coburn, Paul Lambert, H.M. Wynant, Barbara Lawrence, Jennifer Howard, Vinton Hayworth, Sara Shane, S. John Launer, Sid Tomack, Dave Willock, Jim Drum, Virginia Carroll, Paul Power, Donna Hayes, Harry Hollins and (although I looked for him in vain) George E. Stone.  Director of photography was Frank Redman and art direction was by Robert G. Stone.

No more pictures of missiles! “Women’s Viewpoint will deal frankly with sex from the point of view of the woman….”

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This week’s mystery movie has been the 1928 MGM film “Across to Singapore,” starring Ramon Novarro (Thursday’s mystery guest), Joan Crawford (Friday’s mystery guest) and Ernest Torrence (Monday’s mystery guest).

The film was based on the 1919 novel “All the Brothers Were Valiant” by Ben Ames Williams and adapted by Ted Shane. Settings were by Cedric Gibbons, wardrobe by David Cox, photography by John Seitz and editing by Ben Lewis. It was directed by William Nigh. The cast also included Frank Currier (Tuesday’s mystery guest), Dan Wolhelm, Duke Martin, Edward Connelly and James Mason (no, not that James Mason).

The Los Angeles opening at Loew’s State in April 1928 featured the Fanchon and Marco girls diving into what the Los Angeles Times described as a huge glass tank. Times film critic Marquis Busby  said of Crawford:  “unless I am badly mistaken Joan does the best work of her career.” Busby died in Los Angeles in 1934 at the age of 31.

As I noted earlier, this week’s mystery person was cinematographer John Seitz, who gave us “Double Indemnity,” “Lost Weekend,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Five Graves to Cairo,” “This Gun for Hire” and  “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek,” among many other film classics.  If anyone at TCM is reading this, how about a birthday tribute on June 23?

The film is available from Warner Archive, as is the 1953 MGM remake, “All the Brothers Were Valiant,” with Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger and Ann Blyth. “Across to Singapore” was itself a remake of “All the Brothers Were Valiant,” a 1923 Metro picture with Lon Chaney, Malcolm McGregor and Billie Dove, which Busby called “one of the best sea pictures ever made.”

Images of the badly damaged 1923 “All the Brothers Were Valiant” here.

Williams’ novel is available at Archive.org.

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I wanted to do a Michael Curtiz film, so as this week’s mystery movie, I chose the 1959 Mirisch Co. film “The Man in the Net,” starring Alan Ladd (Friday’s mystery guest), Carolyn Jones (Thursday’s mystery guest), Diane Brewster (Wednesday’s mystery guest), John Lupton (Friday’s mystery guest), Charles McGraw (Tuesday’s mystery guest) and Tom Helmore (Friday’s mystery guest).

The screenplay was by Reginald Rose, from a story by Patrick Quentin. Cinematography was by John Seitz , music by Hans J. Salter.

Monday’s mystery guest is identified in the credits as Steven Perry. IMDB, alas, has confused him with this Steven Perry.

Rather than this Stephen Perry.

I have given up trying to make fixes in IMDB, but it would be nice if they got this straightened out.

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