Private Detective | |
---|---|
Directed by | Noel M. Smith |
Screenplay by | Earle Snell Raymond L. Schrock |
Story by | Kay Krausse |
Produced by | Bryan Foy |
Starring | Jane Wyman Dick Foran |
Cinematography | Ted D. McCord |
Edited by | Harold McLernon |
Music by | Rex Dunn |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 55 minutes |
Country | United States |
Private Detective is a 1939 American drama film directed by Noel M. Smith and written by Earle Snell and Raymond L. Schrock. The film stars Jane Wyman and Dick Foran and is based on the short story "Invitation to Murder" by Kay Krausse in the Pocket Detective Magazine. [1] [2] [3] It was released by Warner Bros. on December 9, 1939.
Millard Lannon sues his ex-wife Mona Lannon for the custody of their son. The owner of the Nation-Wide Detective Agency, where Myrna Winslow works asks her to testify against Mona. Myrna refuses because Millard only wants the custody of his son to have access to the child's trust fund. When her boss insist that she testify, Myrna decides to quit her job and marry her boyfriend police lieutenant Jim Rickey. Jim is thrilled when Myrna arrived at the police station and wish to be married that night.
However, Myrna is distracted when she overhears an incoming call from Millard, demanding police protection because Mona has threatened his life. This was a scheme concocted by his lawyer, Nat Flavin who kills Millard in his home later that night. Mona was seen leaving his house just as the gunshot is heard by a neighbor. Myrna tags along as Jim and his assistant Brody investigate the crime. She finds Mona hiding in a hotel and tells her that the police suspect her fiancé Donald Norton. Mona lies and says she is the killer. Myrna believes Mona is innocent and helps her escape. Meanwhile, Nat is trying to persuade Donald to turn Mona in and also hire him as her defense lawyer. Jim and Brody arrive at Donald's home. They have a confrontation with Donald and he escapes.
Myrna decides to help both Mona and Donald. She questions Nat the next morning and learned that he has appointed himself the legal guardian of Mona's son. Jim is not happy with Myrna's interference in the case. Myrna later finds evidence confirming Nat's guilt in his office. She writes a report saying that Nat killed Millard, and framed Mona in order to get her son's trust fund. As she is telling Jim on the telephone to meet her at the office, Nat arrives and knocks Myrna unconscious and takes her to his beach house. He is met by his partner Millard's chauffeur, Chick Jerome. While the unconscious Myrna is placed in a car in the garage, Mona and Donald arrived to give Nat a retainer to defend them. Jim and Brady burst in, just when Chick is about to give Mona and Donald poisoned drinks. They had found Myrna's report about Nat in his office, and rescued Myrna before she asphyxiated in the car. After a struggle, they successfully captured Nat and Chick.
The Big Sleep (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angeles.
The Thin Man Goes Home is a 1945 comedy-mystery film directed by Richard Thorpe. It is the fifth of the six Thin Man films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy as Dashiell Hammett's dapper ex-private detective Nick Charles and his wife Nora. This entry in The Thin Man series was the first not directed by W.S. Van Dyke, who had died in 1943.
Jane Wyman was an American actress. She received an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.
The Big Sleep is a 1946 American film noir directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of the 1939 novel of the same name by Raymond Chandler. The film stars Humphrey Bogart as private detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge in a story that begins with blackmail and leads to multiple murders.
The Big Sleep is a 1978 neo-noir film, the second film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The picture was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe. The cast includes Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, and Oliver Reed, also featuring James Stewart as General Sternwood.
John Francis Regis Toomey was an American film and television actor.
Gloria Dickson was an American stage and screen actress of the 1930s and 1940s.
Thomas Edward Brown was an American actor and model.
John Nicholas "Dick" Foran was an American actor, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures.
Penthouse is a 1933 American Pre-Code crime film starring Warner Baxter as a lawyer and Myrna Loy as a call girl who helps him with a murder case. The film features Charles Butterworth as the butler, Mae Clarke as the murder victim, Phillips Holmes as the suspected murderer, and C. Henry Gordon as the gangster who arranged the murder. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, based on a novel by Arthur Somers Roche. The film was later remade as the more sanitized Society Lawyer (1939), without the risqué pre-Code dialogue.
James William Flavin Jr. was an American character actor whose career lasted for nearly half a century.
Chick Carter, Detective is a 1946 Columbia film serial. Columbia could not afford the rights to produce a Nick Carter serial so they made Chick Carter, Detective about his son instead. This was based on the radio series Chick Carter, Boy Detective. A Nick Carter series was being made by MGM.
The Falcon Strikes Back is a 1943 American crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk and stars Tom Conway as the title character, the amateur sleuth, the Falcon. Supporting roles are filled by Harriet Hilliard, Jane Randolph, Edgar Kennedy, with Cliff Edwards filling in for Allen Jenkins as the Falcon's sidekick, "Goldie" Locke. It is the fifth film in the Falcon series and the second for Conway, reprising the role that his brother, George Sanders had initiated.
Love, Honor and Behave is a 1938 American drama film directed by Stanley Logan and starring Wayne Morris and Priscilla Lane. The supporting cast includes John Litel, Thomas Mitchell, Dick Foran and Dickie Moore. "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon" serves as the motion picture's the theme song. Initially set in Meadowfield, Long Island in 1922, the picture's plot revolves around a timid husband who finally stands up for himself in the wake of being cuckolded by his ravishing wife.
Felony is a 2013 Australian crime thriller film directed by Matthew Saville. Joel Edgerton wrote, produced and co-starred in the film. Tom Wilkinson, Jai Courtney, and Melissa George also appeared in the film. It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
The Falcon in San Francisco is a 1945 American crime and mystery film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and stars Tom Conway, Rita Corday and Edward Brophy, who played the recurring role of "Goldie" Locke. The film was the 11th in The Falcon series of detective films, and the eighth featuring Conway as the amateur sleuth. The Falcon in San Francisco was the final film in the series produced by Maurice Geraghty, after which budgets were reduced and location shooting largely abandoned.
Code of the Streets is a 1939 Universal Studios film starring The Little Tough Guys.
Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite is a 1939 American mystery film directed by Noel M. Smith, written by Earle Snell and Charles Belden, and starring Jane Wyman, Allen Jenkins, and Tom Kennedy. It was released on August 12, 1939. It is the final film in a series of nine Torchy Blane movies by Warner Bros. The first film, Smart Blonde, was released in 1937.
This is the complete filmography of actress Marguerite Chapman.
According to Mrs. Hoyle is a 1951 American crime film directed by Jean Yarbrough and written by Scott Darling and Barney Gerard. The film stars Spring Byington, Anthony Caruso, Tanis Chandler, Brett King, Stephen Chase and Robert Karnes. The film was released on May 20, 1951, by Monogram Pictures.