Whistling in the Dark | |
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Directed by | Elliott Nugent Charles Reisner (uncredited co-director) |
Screenplay by | Elliott Nugent |
Based on | Whistling in the Dark 1932 play by Laurence Gross Edward Childs Carpenter |
Produced by | Norbert Brodine |
Starring | Ernest Truex Una Merkel Edward Arnold |
Cinematography | Norbert Brodine |
Edited by | Ben Lewis |
Music by | William Axt |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 76-79 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Whistling in the Dark (U.S. television title: Scared!) is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy-mystery film directed by Elliott Nugent and starring Ernest Truex and Una Merkel. The plot concerns a mystery writer whose scheme for a perfect murder comes to the attention of a gangster (Edward Arnold), who plans to use it.
The film is based on the Broadway play of the same name by Laurence Gross and Edward Childs Carpenter, which played for 265 performances in 1932-33. [1] Edward Arnold played the same role in the Broadway stage production. [1]
In 1941, the film was remade starring Red Skelton and Ann Rutherford. Skelton then played the role of "Wallace Porter" in two sequels.
Otto Barfuss refuses to pay for protection and won't bow down to the syndicate. When they come for him, he puts the sting on them. Jake Dillon thinks its time to end Barfuss for good, but he knows it has to be done properly so that they don't get caught.
Wallace Porter and his girl Toby Van Buren are eloping when their car breaks down near Dillon's house. He's a mystery writer who brags about his abilities to write the perfect murder. He is forced to give Dillon the perfect way to kill Barfuss while he and Toby are held as prisoners.
Porter manages to connect the radio to contact the phone operator. He and Toby get a message out to save Barfuss. Dillon comes back and is caught by the police.
Design for Living is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Coward, it was premiered on Broadway, partly because its risqué subject matter was thought unacceptable to the official censor in London. It was not until 1939 that a London production was presented.
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Erik Rhodes was an American film and Broadway singer and actor. He is best remembered today for appearing in two classic Hollywood musical films with the popular dancing team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: The Gay Divorcee (1934) and Top Hat (1935).
Secrets Can Kill is the first of many installments in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by HeR Interactive. Players take on the first-person view of fictional amateur sleuth Nancy Drew and solve the mystery through interrogation of suspects, solving puzzles, and discovering clues. The game is animated in 3D, but unlike later games, the characters are 2D. There are three levels of gameplay: Junior, Senior, and Master detective modes. Each mode offers a different difficulty level of puzzles and hints, however, none of these changes affect the actual plot of the game. The game is loosely based on a The Nancy Drew Files book of the same name, Secrets Can Kill (1986).
Lloyd Corrigan was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually mysteries such as Daughter of the Dragon starring Anna May Wong, before dedicating himself more to acting in 1938. His short La Cucaracha won an Academy Award in 1935.
Born to Dance is a 1936 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Eleanor Powell, James Stewart and Virginia Bruce. It was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The score was composed by Cole Porter.
Ernest Truex was an American actor of stage, film, and television.
The Maltese Falcon is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film based on the 1930 novel The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film stars Ricardo Cortez as private detective Sam Spade and Bebe Daniels as femme fatale Ruth Wonderly. The supporting cast features Dudley Digges, Thelma Todd, Walter Long, Una Merkel, and Dwight Frye. Maude Fulton and Brown Holmes wrote the screenplay; one contemporaneous report said that Lucien Hubbard was assisting them.
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Whistling in the Dark is a 1941 comedy film directed by S. Sylvan Simon. It is the first of three films starring Red Skelton as Wally "the Fox" Benton, who writes and acts in radio murder mysteries. Wally is kidnapped by a greedy cult leader, who threatens to kill Wally's girlfriend and another young woman unless he concocts a perfect murder. The film was based on the Broadway play of the same name by Laurence Gross and Edward Childs Carpenter. Uncredited contributing writer Elliott Nugent wrote and directed the earlier film adaptation of the same name.
Whistling in the Dark may refer to:
Murder In the Fleet is a 1935 American murder mystery/comedy-drama film set aboard USS Carolina. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film was directed by Edward Sedgwick and stars Robert Taylor and Jean Parker.
Murder in the Private Car is a 1934 American pre-Code mystery romance film starring Mary Carlisle, Charles Ruggles and Una Merkel. Directed by Harry Beaumont, the production is based on the play The Rear Car by Edward E. Rose. David Townsend was the film's art director.
The Warrior's Husband is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Walter Lang and starring Elissa Landi, David Manners, and Ernest Truex. It tells the story of the Amazons, who ruled over men thanks to the sacred girdle of Diana, and Hercules who came to steal it. The film is based on a 1932 Broadway production of Julian Thompson's 1924 play that starred Katharine Hepburn in the lead role.
Biography of a Bachelor Girl is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Edward H. Griffith and written by Horace Jackson and Anita Loos. It is based upon the play, "Biography," by S. N. Behrman. The film stars Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, Edward Everett Horton, Edward Arnold, Una Merkel and Charles Richman. It was released on January 4, 1935, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The Man from Texas is a 1948 American Western film starring James Craig and Lynn Bari. The film was directed by Leigh Jason, with Earl Robinson serving as the film composer. It is credited as being based on the 1938 play and novel Missouri Legend by Elizabeth Beall Ginty that was based on Jesse James. It was produced by Bryan Foy for Eagle-Lion Films. The film's sets were designed by the art director Edward L. Ilou.
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