Murder at the Vanities (1934)

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Earl Carroll (play)
Joseph Gollomb (writer)

Release Date:

18 May 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Mystery

Plot:

Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities...

Plot Keywords:

Theater | Murder | Based On Play

Cast

Carl Brisson	...	Eric Lander
Victor McLaglen	...	Police Lt. Bill Murdock
Jack Oakie	...	Jack Ellery
Kitty Carlisle	...	Ann Ware
Dorothy Stickney	...	Norma Watson
Gertrude Michael	...	Rita Ross
Jessie Ralph	...	Mrs. Helene Smith
Charles Middleton	...	Homer Boothby (as Charles B. Middleton)
Gail Patrick	...	Sadie Evans
Donald Meek	...	Dr. J.T. Saunders
Toby Wing	...	Nancy
Duke Ellington	...	Himself (as Duke Ellington's Orchestra)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One 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 Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Continuity: A door to a dressing room is slammed, shattering a good portion of the mirror attached to the door. A moment later, when the door is opened, the breakage has changed so that part of the mirror is restored.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in End of Days (1999)

Soundtrack:

Live and Love Tonight

Duke Ellington in his brief number was the highlight of Murder at the Vanities

Since this is Black History Month and I'm reviewing the achievements of many African-Americans on film in chronological order, I got this movie on VHS from the library because Duke Ellington and his Orchestra were in it. Their jazz version of Franz Liszt's "Rhapsody" was the highlight of this mostly overlong murder mystery-musical comedy mixture. Many other numbers I liked were Kitty Carlisle's especially "Sweet Marijuana", Carl Brisson's "Cocktails for Two" as well as his duet with Carlisle on that earlier, and the ones by Gertrude Michael who's great as the woman you love to hate. Jack Oakie and Victor McLaglen probably go a little too long with their love/hate banter as the producer and detective but they grow on you. And Toby Wing is a sexy dumb tease as Nancy who keeps trying to say something to Oakie but gets a "Not now" from him every time. While many of the characters have a motive for the murders that happen, I wasn't surprised by the revelation of who done it. And get a load of how naked the women here are (though of course their breasts are covered, either by their hands or some flimsy top). This was very obviously pre-Code. Worth a look for any film buff interested in this sort of thing. P.S. As a long-time Louisiana resident, I like noting when someone was born here as Carlisle was a New Orleans native.