Satan Met a Lady (1936)

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Brown Holmes (screen play)
Dashiell Hammett (based on a novel by)

Release Date:

22 July 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Sardonic detective Shane, thrown out of one town for bringing trouble, heads for home and his ex-partner's detective agency...

Plot Keywords:

Horn | Train | Private Detective | Held At Gunpoint | Shot In The Back

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Valerie Purvis
Warren William	...	Ted Shane
Alison Skipworth	...	Madame Barabbas
Arthur Treacher	...	Anthony Travers
Marie Wilson	...	Miss Murgatroyd
Wini Shaw	...	Astrid Ames (as Winifred Shaw)
Porter Hall	...	Milton Ames
Olin Howland	...	Detective Dunhill
Charles C. Wilson	...	Detective Pollock (as Charles Wilson)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Alexander	...	Black Porter (uncredited)
J.H. Allen	...	Bootblack (uncredited)
May Beatty	...	Mrs. Arden (uncredited)
Barbara Blane	...	Babe (uncredited)
Billy Bletcher	...	Father of Sextuplets (uncredited)
Raymond Brown	...	Fourth City Fathers Committee Member (uncredited)
James P. Burtis	...	Detective (uncredited)
Frank Darien	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
William B. Davidson	...	Spokesman - City Fathers Committee (uncredited)
Don Downen	...	Reporter (uncredited)
John Elliott	...	City Fathers Committee Member (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Jackie Farrow (uncredited)
Kid Herman	...	Bootblack (uncredited)
Maynard Holmes	...	Kenneth - Barabbas's Young Gunman (uncredited)
Joe King	...	Detective (uncredited)
Alice La Mont	...	Mother of Sextuplets (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Edward McWade	...	City Fathers Committee Member (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Extra on Dance Floor (uncredited)
Edmund Mortimer	...	Extra on Dance Floor (uncredited)
John J. Richardson	...	Second Photographer (uncredited)
Cliff Saum	...	Patrol Officer (uncredited)
Francis Sayles	...	Detective (uncredited)
Eddie Shubert	...	Detective (uncredited)
Ray Turner	...	The Porter (uncredited)
Huey White	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Room Service Waiter (uncredited)
Douglas Williams	...	Dock Walloper (uncredited)
Jack Wise	...	Pushy Photographer (uncredited)

Directed by
William Dieterle

Writing credits
Brown Holmes		(screen play)
Dashiell Hammett		(based on a novel by)

Original Music by
Bernhard Kaun		(uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Arthur Edeson

Film Editing by
Warren Low

Art Direction by
Max Parker

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(gowns)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director (uncredited)
M.K. Jerome	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Gene Lewis	....	dialogue director
Henry Blanke	....	supervisor (uncredited)
Sally Sage	....	stand-in: Bette Davis (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vitaphone Corporation, The (1936) (USA) (theatrical) (as The Vitaphone Corp.)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #1869)

Company:

Warner Bros

Trivia:

The second of three film adaptations of Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon," this film has notable connections to both other versions. First, this film's screenwriter, Brown Holmes, was also credited as a screenwriter on The Maltese Falcon (1931), directed by Roy Del Ruth. Second, this film's cinematographer, Arthur Edeson, was also the director of photography for John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941). Third, Warren William, who plays the Sam Spade character (Ted Shane) in this film, also played Perry Mason in a series of films beginning in 1934, but was replaced in 1936 by Ricardo Cortez - who had played Sam Spade in the 1931 "Maltese Falcon". Finally, Bette Davis filled in for Raymond Burr when he had to have surgery in "Perry Mason: The Case of Constant Doyle (#6.16)" (1963).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In his discussion with Madame Barabbas, Shane tells her the item she seeks is so valuable that it is worth her paying him plenty to find it. But actor Warren William muffs the line, saying "It's worth playing me plenty."

Quotes:

Ted Shayne:Find anything in the divan?
Anthony Travers:Only a few hairpins and some loose change.
Ted Shayne:[holding out hat] Come across!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hollywood Mouth (2008)

Soundtrack:

I'd Rather Listen to Your Eyes

Easy Breezy Dramedy!

Surprise! Satan Met a Lady is an easy breezy detective dramedy VERY LOOSELY based on the Dashiell Hammett Book, The Maltese Falcon. This book had been adapted for the film before (in 1931) and, more famously, after (1941), This version made its way to the silver screen in 1936, with Bette Davis in rare form in a comedic role. Warren William, who could be as suave as the similar and better known actor William Powell, plays it fast and loose as a detective out to settle a mystery-and maybe find himself very rich. This version of the Hammett tale has been sadly underrated due to the fact that many of its naysayers were suffering under a misapprehension concerning the tenor of the film. In their attempt to set it under the same microscope as its more famous remakes and premakes, many of the critics overlooked the simple truth that this is a light, comic bit of film fluff concocted to entertain a mid-Depression Era audience with its confection of comedy, mystery, and romance. It has none of the nihilistic brooding of the original book, nor the leering innuendo or virtuoso performances of the two other films. What it does provide is a diverting pastiche of one liners and clever story lines that keep its audience on the edge of their seat. Even if they're almost falling out of their seats for laughter, there's always a reason for the viewers to use (and not lose) their heads. I'd like to see most movies do that today (and at 76 minutes.)

The casting of the principal stars is first rate. There's always a glint of a coiled cobra in Warren Willliam's silver-tongued shamus. But most of the time he keeps his gun in his pocket and his tongue in his cheek. Even his name is a parody of the nickname for a detective. Bette Davis matches him line by line and sets the movie at its pace. she was still a young actress and everything she says and does is as real and as fresh as homebaked bread. Allison Skipworth makes a charming but sinister villianess. Arthur Treacher (hilarious as a thief with manners) and portly Porter Hall round off this mad quad of moneygrubbers all showing that not only is the love of money the root of all evil, it can also be very, very, funny. Like Arsenic and Old Lace and Beat The Devil, Satan Met a lady is one movie that was ahead of its time and, after more than 65 years, is still got plenty of zest and zing. A Thumbs up for Satan Met a Lady.