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The Canary Murder Case (1929)
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Overview
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Release Date:
1929 (Germany)
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Plot:
A beautiful showgirl, name "the Canary" is a scheming nightclub singer. Blackmailing is her game and with that she ends up dead...
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Louise Brooks Does Not Talk
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Cast
(Credited cast) | William Powell | ... | Philo Vance |
 | Jean Arthur | ... | Alice LaFosse |
 | Louise Brooks | ... | Margaret Odell (the Canary) |
 | James Hall | ... | Jimmy Spotswoode |
| Charles Lane | ... | Charless Spotswoode |
| Lawrence Grant | ... | John Cleaver |
| Gustav von Seyffertitz | ... | Dr. Ambrose Lindquist |
| E.H. Calvert | ... | Dist. Atty. John F.X. Markham (as Captain E. H. Calvert) |
| Eugene Pallette | ... | Sgt. Ernest Heath |
| Ned Sparks | ... | Tony Skeel (as Ned A. Sparks) |
| Louis John Bartels | ... | Louis Mannix |
| Margaret Livingston | ... | Margaret Odell (voice) |
Additional Details
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Runtime:
82 min
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Aspect Ratio:
1.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (MovieTone)
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One of the earliest of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since.
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Followed by Philo Vance's Secret Mission (1947)
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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Canary Murder Case (1929)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Stuttering Characters | Avalon123 |
| Ever Released? | EdOren |
| Beginning clipped off? | 39-0-13 |
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A famous "transition" film. One shot as a silent and partly re-shot for talkies. William Powell stars as Philo Vance. Jean Arthur plays a show girl. Louise Brooks is the "Canary." Of course this film is famous because Brooks refused to return from Europe to re-shoot scenes as a talkie. The studio then released news her voice would not record well. To get even more even they hired Margaret Livingston to dub Brooks' voice in a high nasal New York accent. Livingston also appears in a few long shots in a Louise Brooks hair cut.
Slow but OK murder mystery. Brooks disappears after about 15 minutes; Arthur has no real part. That leaves us with James Hall as the dupe, Eugene Palette the dumb sergeant, Charles Lane the father, Oscar Smith the desk attendant, etc. Lots of talk.
Brooks is gorgeous and in the credits you note she gets downplayed from 2nd to 4th billing. Another Paramount jab. Brooks indeed had a fine voice even though I've only seen a couple of lousy westerns she made. She was a beauty and had a good voice. But she sure was difficult. And her "Lulu in Hollywood" memoir doesn't change my mind about her. By the way: I loved her in Beggars of Life as well as Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl.