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.
Saint Overboard is the title of a 1936 mystery novel by Leslie Charteris, one of a long series of novels featuring Charteris' creation Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". An edited version was previously published in November 1935 in The American Magazine as The Pirate Saint. Some paperback editions append the article The to the title.
Cause for Alarm! is a 1951 melodrama suspense film directed by Tay Garnett, written by Mel Dinelli and Tom Lewis, based on a story by Larry Marcus. Ellen narrates the tale of "the most terrifying day of my life", how she was taking care of her bedridden husband George Z. Jones when he suddenly dropped dead. The film is in the public domain.
Follow Me Quietly is a 1949 American semidocumentary film noir / police procedural film directed by Richard Fleischer. The drama features William Lundigan, Dorothy Patrick, and Jeff Corey.
John Loder was established as a British film actor in Germany and Britain before migrating to the United States in 1928 for work in the new talkies. He worked in Hollywood for two periods, becoming an American citizen in 1947. After living also in Argentina, he became a naturalized British (Argentinian?)citizen in 1959.
Doomed to Die is a 1940 American mystery film directed by William Nigh and starring Boris Karloff as Mr. Wong with Marjorie Reynolds and Grant Withers. It is a sequel to the 1940 film The Fatal Hour, which also features Withers and Reynolds.
Three Girls Lost is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Loretta Young, Lew Cody, and John Wayne. The film also featured Ward Bond, and co-starred Wayne with Paul Fix for the first time. Based on a story by Robert Hardy Andrews, the film is about a young man (Wayne) who finds himself suspected of involvement in the murder of a gangster.
Charlie Chan in London is a 1934 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde. The film stars Warner Oland as Charlie Chan. This is the sixth film produced by Fox with Warner Oland as the detective, and the second not to be lost, after The Black Camel (1931).
The Mystery of Mr. Wong is a 1939 American mystery film directed by William Nigh and starring Boris Karloff.
Non-Stop New York is a 1937 British science fiction crime film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring John Loder, Anna Lee and Francis L. Sullivan. It is based on the 1936 novel Sky Steward by Ken Attiwill. A woman who can clear an innocent man of the charge of murder is pursued by gangsters onto a luxurious transatlantic flying boat.
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.
Loose Ankles is a 1930 pre-Code romantic comedy with songs, produced and released by First National Pictures, which had become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film was directed by Ted Wilde and stars Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Louise Fazenda and Edward Nugent. It was a remake of the 1926 silent film titled Ladies at Play, which had been produced by First National Pictures. Both versions were adapted by Gene Towne from the 1926 play Loose Ankles by Sam Janney. Sam Janney was to direct the film but died in a car crash during production.
Scarlet Pages is a 1930 pre-Code American crime drama film with songs starring Elsie Ferguson and directed by Ray Enright. It was produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Elsie Ferguson, John Halliday, Grant Withers and Marian Nixon. Scarlet Pages is based on a 1929 Broadway play of the same name that Ferguson also starred in. It is similar in theme to the better remembered Five Star Final, also by Warners released a year later. The film simultaneously marked the first time Ferguson appeared in a sound film and the last film she ever made.
No Hands on the Clock is a 1941 American comedy mystery film directed by Frank McDonald starring Chester Morris as detective Humphrey Campbell. The cast also included Jean Parker and Rose Hobart. It was produced by Pine-Thomas Productions and released by Paramount Pictures.
Mystery House is a 1938 American mystery crime film directed by Noel M. Smith and starring Dick Purcell and Ann Sheridan as nurse Sarah Keate, and is based on the 1930 novel The Mystery of Hunting's End by Mignon G. Eberhart. Sheridan also played the same character in The Patient in Room 18, released in January 1938, while Aline MacMahon played her in While the Patient Slept in 1935.
Tiger Rose is a 1929 American Pre-Code early sound adventure film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It was directed by George Fitzmaurice and is based on a 1917 play, Tiger Rose, by Willard Mack. This film is a remake of the 1923 film Tiger Rose Warner Bros. silent that starred Lenore Ulric, who also starred on Broadway in Mack's play. Among the cast members in this film are Monte Blue, Lupe Vélez and Rin Tin Tin.
The Squall is a 1929 American pre-Code drama film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Myrna Loy, Richard Tucker, Alice Joyce and Loretta Young, and based on the 1926 play The Squall by Jean Bart.
The Man Upstairs is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Monte Blue. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. The film is based on the 1916 novel The Agony Column by Earl Derr Biggers.
Road to Alcatraz is a 1945 American mystery film directed by Nick Grinde and written by Dwight V. Babcock and Jerry Sackheim. The film stars Robert Lowery, June Storey, Grant Withers, Clarence Kolb, Charles Gordon and William Forrest. The film was released on July 10, 1945, by Republic Pictures.
Rip Roaring Riley is a 1935 American action film directed by Elmer Clifton and starring Elmer Clifton, with Lloyd Hughes, Marion Burns and Grant Withers. The film's sets were designed by the art director Vin Taylor. A second feature, it was released in America by Puritan Pictures and in Britain by Pathé Pictures under the alternative title The Mystery of Diamond Island.
