A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction. Mystery films include, but are not limited to, films in the genre of detective fiction.
Claire Dodd was an American film actress.
Lyle Florenz Talbot was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on a wide variety of television series from the early 1950s to the late 1980s. Among his notable roles on television was his portrayal of Ozzie Nelson's friend and neighbor Joe Randolph, a character he played for ten years on the ABC sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Marguerite Churchill was an American stage and film actress whose career lasted 30 years, from 1922 to 1952. She was John Wayne's first leading lady, in The Big Trail (1930).
The Glass Key is a 1935 American crime drama film directed by Frank Tuttle starring George Raft, Edward Arnold, Claire Dodd, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams and Ray Milland. Ann Sheridan has a brief speaking role as Raft's character's nurse in their first film together. Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it was based upon the 1931 suspense novel The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett,
College Coach is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film starring Dick Powell and Ann Dvorak. The film features John Wayne in his last bit-part role.
A Shriek in the Night is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery crime film with elements of romance directed by Albert Ray and starring Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, and Harvey Clark. It was produced by the independent studio Allied Pictures, and remains the company's best-known release.
Babbitt is a 1934 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis directed by William Keighley and starring Aline MacMahon, Guy Kibbee and Claire Dodd. The screenplay is about a staid small-town businessman who gets ensnared in shady dealings.
Elmer, the Great is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, starring Joe E. Brown and Patricia Ellis.
Bulldog Drummond Escapes is a 1937 American mystery thriller film directed by James P. Hogan and starring Ray Milland as Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond alongside Heather Angel and Reginald Denny. Paramount continued with the Bulldog Drummond series, producing seven more films over the next two years. They replaced Milland with John Howard.
Murder Over New York is a 1940 American mystery film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan. The cast also features Marjorie Weaver, Robert Lowery and Ricardo Cortez. Chan must solve a murder mystery while attending a police convention. Shemp Howard plays "Shorty McCoy" in an uncredited appearance.
The Dragon Murder Case is a 1934 mystery film adaptation of the novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine, starring Warren William as private detective Philo Vance, Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot and Eugene Pallette, and featuring Helen Lowell, Robert McWade, Robert Barrat, Dorothy Tree, George E. Stone and Etienne Girardot.
Miss Pinkerton is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy mystery film about a nurse who becomes involved in a murder investigation. It stars Joan Blondell, George Brent and Ruth Hall. The film is adapted from a book with the same title, by American novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart.
While the Patient Slept is a 1935 comedy murder mystery film directed by Ray Enright starring Aline MacMahon as a nurse/crime sleuth and Guy Kibbee as her boyfriend and police detective. It is based on the novel of the same name written by Mignon G. Eberhart.
The Night Club Lady is a 1932 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Adolphe Menjou, Mayo Methot and Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher. It was followed by a sequel The Circus Queen Murder in 1933 with Menjou reprising his role. A third, unrelated film featuring Thatcher Colt, The Panther's Claw, was released in 1942.
The Circus Queen Murder is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Adolphe Menjou, Donald Cook and Greta Nissen. It is the sequel to the 1932 film The Night Club Lady in which Menjou had also starred as Thatcher Colt. The film is based on a story by "Anthony Abbott", a pseudonym used by Fulton Oursler.
The Singing Kid is a 1936 American musical romance film directed by William Keighley and written by Warren Duff and Pat C. Flick. Starring Al Jolson, Sybil Jason, Beverly Roberts, Edward Everett Horton, Lyle Talbot and Allen Jenkins, it was released by Warner Bros. on April 11, 1936.
Sarah Keate is a fictional character, the protagonist in a series of medical mystery novels by American author Mignon G. Eberhart.
Murder by an Aristocrat is a 1932 mystery thriller novel by the American writer Mignon G. Eberhart.
Before Midnight is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery crime film directed by Lambert Hillyer and starring Ralph Bellamy, June Collyer and Claude Gillingwater. Produced and distributed by Columbia Pictures, it was the first in a series of four films featuring Inspector Steve Trent of the NYPD. Bellamy featured in all three sequels One Is Guilty, The Crime of Helen Stanley and Girl in Danger.
