On this day in movie history - The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939 movie & novel):

The Gracie Allen Murder Case

directed by Alfred E. Green,

written by Nat Perrin,

based on the novel by S.S. Van Dine,

was released in the United States on June 2, 1939.
Music by Gerard Carbonara and Leo Shuken.

Cast:

Gracie Allen, Warren William, Ellen Drew, Kent Taylor, Judith Barrett, Donald MacBride, Jed Prouty, Jerome Cowan, H. B. Warner, William Demarest, Sam Lee, Al Shaw, Richard Denning, Irving Bacon, Lillian Yarbo.

Recommended reading:

The Gracie Allen Murder Case

aka The Smell of Murder

By S.S. Van Dine.

Filmed as The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939), directed by Alfred E. Green.

Published by Felony & Mayhem Press.

First published 1938.

ISBN-10: 1631942069

ISBN-13: 9781631942068

Description:

“Mr. Van Dine’s amateur detective is the most gentlemanly, and probably the most scholarly snooper in literature.”

– Chicago Daily Tribune.

Gracie Allen breaks the Philo Phormula in a number of ways. First is its title: this is the only book in the series to modify “Murder Case” with more than one word, much less with the name of a character. And then there’s that character: Gracie Allen was a very real, much-loved comedienne in the 1930s, famous for her double act with George Burns, and in fact the plot revolves around her. Gracie’s centrality is no accident: Van Dine wrote the story as a vehicle for Allen, and actually created the novel only after the film had come out. So, do all these departures pay off? We’d be lying if we said that Gracie hits every single mark, but Van Dine does a surprisingly entertaining job of translating Ms. Allen’s delicious Ditzy Blonde persona to the page, and she makes a charming foil for Philo’s evergreen erudition.

On this day in movie history - Slightly Scarlet (1956):

Slightly Scarlet

directed by Allan Dwan,

written by Robert Blees,

based on the novel Love’s Lovely Counterfeit by James M. Cain,

was released in the United States on February 15, 1956.
Music by Louis Forbes.

Cast:

John Payne, Rhonda Fleming, Arlene Dahl, Kent Taylor, Ted de Corsia, Lance Fuller, Buddy Baer, Fred Aldrich, Murray Alper, Hy Anzell, Joanne Arnold, Ellen Corby, Sam Flint, Frank Gerstle, Roy Gordon, Myron Healey, Frank Jenks, Barry Norton, William ‘Bill’ Phillips, George E. Stone, Hal Taggart, Arthur Tovey, George D. Wallace.

On this day in movie history - Deadline for Murder (1946):

Deadline for Murder

directed by James Tinling,

written by Irving Cummings Jr.,

was released in the United States on August 1, 1946.
Music by Rudy Schrager.

Cast:

Paul Kelly, Kent Taylor, Sheila Ryan, Jerome Cowan, Renee Carson, Marion Martin, Joan Blair, Eddie Marr, Matt McHugh, Jody Gilbert, Emory Parnell, John Ardell, Larry J. Blake, Tom Burton, André Charlot, Chick Collins, Lester Dorr, Jimmie Dundee, Frank Eldredge, Herbert Evans, Bruce Fernald, Cay Forester, Stewart Garner, Art Gilmore, Ernest Hilliard, Thomas E. Jackson, Eddie Kane, Mary Moore, Jack Mulhall, William Newell, Spec O’Donnell, Jimmy O’Gatty, Joey Ray, Syd Saylor, Clarence Straight, Phil Tead, Ray Teal, Lillian West, Chalky Williams, Charles Williams, Guy Zanette.