Murder at the Vanities (1934)

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Carey Wilson (screenplay) and
Joseph Gollomb (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

18 May 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

A homicide detective with an eye for the ladies investigating a murder in Earl Carroll's Vanities allows the music review to continue during the investigation.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Theater | Machine Gun | Female Detective | Scantily Clad

Cast

Carl Brisson	...	Eric Lander
Victor McLaglen	...	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. Saunders
Toby Wing	...	Nancy
Duke Ellington	...	Himself (as Duke Ellington's Orchestra)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernestine Anderson	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Lona Andre	...	Lona - Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
William Arnold	...	Treasurer (uncredited)
Lucille Ball	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Lucille Battle	...	Black Dancer in Ebony Rhapsody number (uncredited)
Betty Bethune	...	Fat Charwoman (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Mildred Boyd	...	Black Dancer in Duke Ellington's Ebony Rhapsody (uncredited)
Marion Callahan	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Nancy Caswell	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Juanita Clay	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Roy Crane	...	Assistant Stage Manager (uncredited)
Helen Curtis	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Virginia Davis	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Dorothy Dawes	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Mike Donovan	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Winnie Flint	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Barbara Fritchie	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Nora Gale	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Zumetta Garnett	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Gwenllian Gill	...	Gwen - Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Mary Gordon	...	Assistant Wardrobe Woman (uncredited)
Mildred Gover	...	Pearl (uncredited)
Hal Greene	...	Call Boy (uncredited)
Gladys Henderson	...	Black Dancer in Duke Ellington's Ebony Rhapsody (uncredited)
Cleo Herndon	...	Black Dancer in Duke Ellington's Ebony Rhapsody (uncredited)
Ruth Hilliard	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Otto Hoffman	...	Walsh (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Inez Howard	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Billie Huber	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Diane Hunter	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Constance Jordan	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Evelyn Kelly	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
The King's Men	...	Lovely One Quartet (uncredited)
Patsy King	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Alan Ladd	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Iris Lancaster	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Mitchell Leisen	...	Orchestra Leader (uncredited)
Charles McAvoy	...	Ben (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Detective (uncredited)
Leda Nicova	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Dave O'Brien	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Ted Oliver	...	Murdock's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Wanda Perry	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Esther Pressman	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Arthur Rankin	...	Assistant Treasurer (uncredited)
Rita Rober	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Ruth Scott	...	Black Dancer in Duke Ellington's Ebony Rhapsody (uncredited)
Ann Sheridan	...	Lou - Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Laurie Shevlin	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Teru Shimada	...	Koto (uncredited)
Gwynne Shipman	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Carolynne Snowden	...	Black Dancer in Duke Ellington's Ebony Rhapsody (uncredited)
Frank Sully	...	Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Colin Tapley	...	Stage Manager (uncredited)
Anya Taranda	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Beryl Wallace	...	Beryl - Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Cecil Weston	...	Miss Bernstein (uncredited)
Dorothy White	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)
Gladys Young	...	Earl Carroll Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Mitchell Leisen

Writing credits
Carey Wilson		(screenplay) and
Joseph Gollomb		(screenplay)
Earl Carroll		(based upon the play by) and
Rufus King		(based upon the play by)
Sam Hellman		(dialogue)
Jack Cunningham		uncredited

Produced by
E. Lloyd Sheldon	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Howard Jackson		(uncredited)
William E. Lynch		(uncredited)
Milan Roder		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Leo Tover

Film Editing by
William Shea		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Hans Dreier		(uncredited)
Ernst Fegté		(uncredited)

Sound Department
Earl S. Hayman	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Music Department
Rudolph G. Kopp	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Larry Ceballos	....	dance numbers
LeRoy Prinz	....	dance numbers

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1934) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• MCA Home Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Many of the Earl Carroll Girls featured in the film were authentic cast members from Carroll's stage show which ran from September 12th to November, 1933, at the New Amsterdam Theatre, and at the Majestic Theatre from November 6th, 1933 to March 10th, 1934. These cast members were brought out to Hollywood from New York especially for this film, and many stayed to pursue film careers.

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.

Quotes:

Jack Ellery:[to Murdock] Why don't you take your lamps off those dames and do a little police work?

Movie Connections:

References King Kong (1933)

Soundtrack:

Live and Love Tonight

deliciously different

This murder mystery with musical numbers is long on atmosphere and character but rather short on suspense and plausibility. Based on a stage play by Broadway showman Earl Carroll and others, it combines a whodunit plot with a backstage ambiance (a homicide investigation takes place on opening night at the theatre where a musical revue is being staged).

The cast is impressive and varied: tough-goofy Victor McLaglen as the police officer who leads the investigation and never fails to leer idiotically at whatever showgirl happens to be in sight; Jack Oakie (the prewar Jack Lemmon – or was Jack Lemmon the postwar Jack Oakie?) as the harassed director who must coordinate the staged performance as well as the chaos behind the scenes; the ever-homely Jessie Ralph as a wardrobe mistress with deep, dark secrets; Dorothy Stickney, who has a stunning close-up monologue near the end, as the tremulous maid madly in love with the male lead; Carl Brisson, the Danish star, as that very male lead, warbling the classic "Cocktails for Two" not once but twice; Kitty Carlisle, operatically delivering "Where Do They Come from and Where Do They Go" and other Johnston-Coslow songs; the glorious Gertrude Michael, who parted from us too soon, as a mean-spirited showgirl whose love for Brisson is spurned; the usually ridiculous Toby Wing who here at least is the center of a laugh-getting running joke.

When the plot complications get out of hand there is always an interesting performer or fun and tuneful musical number to distract the viewer. The film's most celebrated sequence is the "Marahuana" number, led by Michaels, but aside from its controversial history, it's really one of the lesser musical offerings. All of the songs here are staged as if they could actually have fit into a standard proscenium theatre space, as opposed to the cinematic fantasy setup of the Busby Berkeley style.