Plot summary
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| The Scarab Murder Case | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michael Hankinson |
| Written by | Selwyn Jepson |
| Based on | novel The Scarab Murder Case 1930 novel by S. S. Van Dine |
| Produced by | Anthony Havelock-Allan |
| Starring | Wilfrid Hyde-White Wally Patch Kathleen Kelly |
| Cinematography | Claude Friese-Greene Ronald Neame |
Production companies | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 68 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Scarab Murder Case is a 1936 film directed by Michael Hankinson. It is part of a series of films about fictional detective Philo Vance. Paramount Pictures intended for William Powell to portray the character, as he had in three prior Paramount films - The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Greene Murder Case (1929) and The Benson Murder Case (1930) - as well as The Kennel Murder Case (1933) for Warner Bros. However, Powell changed studios, and the role went to Wilfrid Hyde-White. [1]
The British Film Institute has placed it on its BFI 75 Most Wanted list of lost films. [1]
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2023) |
S. S. Van Dine is the pseudonym used by American art critic Willard Huntington Wright when he wrote detective novels. Wright was active in avant-garde cultural circles in pre-World War I New York, and under the pseudonym he created the fictional detective Philo Vance, a sleuth and aesthete who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in films and on the radio.
Philo Vance is a fictional amateur detective originally featured in 12 crime novels by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, films, and radio. He was portrayed as a stylish—even foppish—dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent. "S. S. Van Dine" was the pen name of Willard Huntington Wright, a prominent art critic who initially sought to conceal his authorship of the novels. Van Dine was also a fictional character in the books, a sort of Dr. Watson figure who accompanied Vance and chronicled his exploits.
The "Canary" Murder Case (1927) is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of an attractive nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and, eventually, her boyfriend, solved by Philo Vance. S. S. Van Dine's classic whodunnit, second in the Philo Vance series, is said by Howard Haycraft to have broken "all modern publishing records for detective fiction." The earliest editions give the title with quotation marks around the word "Canary", but most subsequent editions omit them.
The Greene Murder Case is a 1928 mystery novel by S. S. Van Dine. It focuses on the murders, one by one, of members of the wealthy and contentious Greene family. This is the third in the series of Philo Vance whodunits, and the first of the Vance books not inspired by a real-life crime.
The Scarab Murder Case (1930) is a classic whodunit written by S. S. Van Dine. In this book, detective Philo Vance's murder investigation takes place in a private home that doubles as a museum of Egyptology, and the solution depends in part on Vance's extensive knowledge of Egyptian history and customs, which enable him to sort through suggestions of godly vengeance and reveal the misdirections perpetrated by the real murderer.
The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 murder mystery novel written by S. S. Van Dine with fictional detective Philo Vance investigating a complex locked-room mystery.
Wilfrid Hyde-White was an English actor. Described by Philip French as a "classic British film archetype", Hyde-White often portrayed droll and urbane upper-class characters. He had an extensive stage and screen career in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and portrayed over 160 film and television roles between 1935 and 1987. He was twice nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, in 1957 for The Reluctant Debutante and in 1973 for The Jockey Club Stakes.
The Benson Murder Case is the first novel in the Philo Vance series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine, which became a best-seller.
Frank Wright Tuttle was a Hollywood film director and writer who directed films from 1922 to 1959.
The Canary Murder Case is a 1929 American pre-Code crime-mystery film based on the 1927 novel of the same name by S.S. Van Dine. The film was directed by Malcolm St. Clair, with a screenplay by Wright, Albert Shelby LeVino, and Florence Ryerson. William Powell starred in the role of detective Philo Vance, with Louise Brooks co-starred as "The Canary"; Jean Arthur, James Hall, and Charles Lane also co-starred in other principal roles.
The Cherry Picker, is a 1972 British drama film directed by Peter Curran and starring Lulu, Bob Sherman, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Spike Milligan, Patrick Cargill, Jack Hulbert, Fiona Curzon, Terry-Thomas and Robert Hutton. The screenplay was by Curran based on the 1968 novel Pick Up Sticks by Mickey Phillips.
From 1929 to 1931, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a series of nine short comedy films called All Barkie Dogville Comedies, sometimes known as the "barkies". The actors in these films were trained dogs, dressed up to parody the performers in contemporary films. The dogs' dialogue in these early sound films were dubbed by actors and voice artists including Pete Smith.
The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film adapted from the 1933 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. Directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Bros., it stars William Powell and Mary Astor. Powell's role as Philo Vance is not the actor's first performance as the aristocratic sleuth; he also portrays the character in three films produced by Paramount in 1929 and 1930.
The Man Behind the Mask is a 1936 British mystery film directed by Michael Powell and starring Hugh Williams, Jane Baxter, Ronald Ward, Maurice Schwartz, George Merritt, Henry Oscar and Peter Gawthorne. A man assaults and switches places with another at a masked ball, and then attempts a major theft – casting suspicion on the original man.
The Greene Murder Case is a 1929 talking film produced and released by Paramount Pictures and based on the novel The Greene Murder Case, by S.S. Van Dine. The novel had been published a year before this film was made. It stars William Powell in his second Philo Vance outing. Florence Eldridge and Jean Arthur costar.
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.
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.
The Benson Murder Case is a 1930 American pre-Code crime film directed by Frank Tuttle and written by S. S. Van Dine and Bartlett Cormack. The film stars William Powell, William "Stage" Boyd, Eugene Pallette, Paul Lukas, Natalie Moorhead, Richard Tucker and May Beatty. The film was released on April 13, 1930, by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. The film had initial copyright notice, and it was renewed in 1957. Under the terms of Title 17 of the U.S. Code, the film will enter the public domain in 2026.
The Gracie Allen Murder Case is a 1939 American comedy mystery film taken from the Philo Vance series by writer S.S. Van Dine and directed by Alfred E. Green from a screenplay by Nat Perrin. The film stars the female member of the comedy duo Burns and Allen Gracie Allen, Warren William, Ellen Drew, Kent Taylor, Judith Barrett, Donald MacBride and Jed Prouty. The film was released on June 2, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.
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