The Firebird | |
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Directed by | William Dieterle |
Screenplay by | Charles Kenyon Jeffrey Dell (adaptation) |
Based on | Tűzmadár 1932 play by Lajos Zilahy |
Produced by | Gilbert Miller |
Starring | Verree Teasdale Ricardo Cortez Lionel Atwill Anita Louise |
Cinematography | Ernest Haller |
Edited by | Ralph Dawson |
Music by | Leo F. Forbstein |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. / The Vitaphone Corp. |
Release date |
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Running time | 74-75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Firebird is a 1934 American murder mystery film starring Verree Teasdale, Ricardo Cortez, Lionel Atwill and Anita Louise, directed by William Dieterle and produced and released by Warner Bros. It is based on the 1932 play by Lajos Zelahy. [1] The Firebird suite by Igor Stravinsky is heard occasionally during the film.
In Vienna, smarmy matinee idol Brandt moves into an upscale apartment building whose principal tenants are the elite Pointer family: John, Carola and daughter Mariette, who's just turned 18. One day, Brandt encounters Carola on the stairwell and insists she come up to his apartment that night, telling her if she doesn't, he'll tell her husband they had the affair anyway. Outraged, she files a formal complaint with the building's owners, demanding he be kicked out. But before that can happen, he is found dead from a gunshot wound. Naturally suspicion falls on a variety of suspects, most obviously John, and it's up to police inspector Miller to figure out which of them did it. [2]
The New York Times reviewer, Andre Sennwald, dismissed it as "an ordinary mystery melodrama." "Among the definite failings of this smoothly filmed edition of Lajos Zilahy's play is the circumstance that, like the original, it conceals the actual murderer from the audience for such an extended period that the motivation for the homicide never becomes completely real." [2]
Madame DuBarry is a 1934 American historical film directed by William Dieterle and starring Dolores del Río, Reginald Owen, Victor Jory and Osgood Perkins. The film portrays the life of Madame Du Barry, the last mistress of King Louis XV of France. While this film does not serve accuracy to Madame Du Barry, it does feature antiques and jewelry that came from the actual days when Madame Du Barry lived. This film was being edited just as the Hollywood Production Code was gaining real power, and faced many problems with censors of the time. A May 27, 1934, New York Times column, “Studio Activities on the Western Front”, focusing on the “cracking down” of censors noted that a reel and a half had already been cut from the film, including a bedroom scene.
Lionel Alfred William Atwill was an English and American stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the United States, he appeared in Broadway plays and Hollywood films. Some of his more significant roles were in Captain Blood (1935), Son of Frankenstein (1939) and To Be or Not to Be (1942).
Ricardo Cortez was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career.
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The Alphabet Murders is a 1965 British detective film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Tony Randall, Anita Ekberg and Robert Morley. It is based on the 1936 novel The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie.
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Murder on the Blackboard is a 1934 American pre-Code mystery/comedy film starring Edna May Oliver as schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and James Gleason as Police Inspector Oscar Piper. Together, they investigate a murder at Withers' school. It was based on the novel of the same name by Stuart Palmer. It features popular actor Bruce Cabot in one of his first post-King Kong roles, as well as Gertrude Michael, Regis Toomey, and Edgar Kennedy.
Rendezvous is a 1935 American spy film set in World War I, directed by William K. Howard, starring William Powell and Rosalind Russell and featuring Binnie Barnes, Lionel Atwill, Cesar Romero and Samuel S. Hinds. Powell plays an American cryptologist who tangles with German spies while falling in love.
Verree Teasdale was an American actress born in Spokane, Washington.
The Case of the Black Cat is a 1936 American mystery film directed by William C. McGann and an uncredited Alan Crosland, based on the 1935 Perry Mason novel The Case of the Caretaker's Cat by Erle Stanley Gardner. The film stars Ricardo Cortez as Perry Mason and co-stars June Travis and Jane Bryan in her film debut. The film is the fifth Perry Mason adaptation distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in the 1930s and the first in the series not to feature Warren William as Mason.
Star of Midnight is a 1935 American mystery comedy film directed by Stephen Roberts. William Powell was loaned to RKO Pictures from MGM to star with Ginger Rogers.
Charlie Chan in Panama is a 1940 mystery film starring Sidney Toler. It is an unaccredited remake of Jacques Deval's novel "Marie Galante", produced by 20th Century Fox in 1934, directed by Henry King.
The Secret of the Blue Room is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Kurt Neumann and starring Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart, Paul Lukas, and Edward Arnold. A remake of the German film Geheimnis des blauen Zimmers (1932), it concerns a group of wealthy people who stay at a European mansion that features a blue room that is said to be cursed, as everyone who has stayed there has died shortly after. Three people suggest a wager that each can survive a night in the blue room.
Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise is a 1940 murder mystery film starring Sidney Toler in his fifth of many performances as Charlie Chan. It is based on the Earl Derr Biggers 1930 novel Charlie Chan Carries On.
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 Sphinx is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery drama film directed by Phil Rosen. The film was remade by William Beaudine as Phantom Killer in 1942.
The Casino Murder Case is a 1935 American mystery film starring Paul Lukas and Alison Skipworth. Rosalind Russell is in the supporting cast. It was directed by Edwin L. Marin from a screenplay by Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. It was the ninth film in the Philo Vance film series.
A Shot in the Dark is a 1941 American comedy mystery film directed by William C. McGann and starring William Lundigan, Nan Wynn and Ricardo Cortez. It was released by Warner Bros. on April 5, 1941. The film was based on the short story "No Hard Feelings" by Frederick Nebel in the Black Mask magazine. The movie is also a remake of the Torchy Blane film Smart Blonde (1937).
The Murder of Dr. Harrigan is a 1936 American mystery film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Peter Milne and Sy Bartlett. The film stars Ricardo Cortez, Kay Linaker, John Eldredge, Mary Astor, Joseph Crehan and Frank Reicher. The film was released by Warner Bros. on January 11, 1936. A story by Mignon G. Eberhart was the basis for the film.
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