On this day in movie history - The Bishop Murder Case (1929 movie & novel):

The Bishop Murder Case

directed by David Burton and Nick Grinde,

written by S.S. Van Dine and Lenore J. Coffee,

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

was released in the United States on December 31, 1929.
Music by William Axt.

Cast:

Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams, Roland Young, Alec B. Francis, George F. Marion, Zelda Sears, Bodil Rosing, Carroll Nye, Charles Quatermaine, James Donlan, Sidney Bracey, Clarence Geldart, Delmer Daves, Nellie Bly Baker.

Recommended reading:

The Bishop Murder Case

By S.S. Van Dine.

# 4 in the Philo Vance mystery series.

Published by Scribners.

First published 1929.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0684179776

ISBN-13: 978-0684179773

Description:

Master sleuth Philo Vance is baffled by a series of grisly murders committed by the sinister “Bishop,” who uses Mother Goose rhymes for inspiration. The killings are the handiwork of genius gone awry, and the suspects are all distinguished intellectuals of the highest order: a physicist, a mathematician, an astronomer, a chess master. Set against the rich tapestry of New York City in the gilded 1920s, this is a brilliant mystery featuring the debonaire, aristocratic sleuth who was America’s first classic detective.

“So Philo Vance will be darting around again. Good!” – Rex Stout.

“A nightmarish shocker, a dazzling deductive work… Vance’s greatest triumph.” – Chris Steinbrunner.

Born on this day – Leila Hyams:

Leila Hyams

Actress

Vaudevillian

May 1, 1905 – December 4, 1977

Credits:

$1000 a Minute (1935); A Girl in Every Port (1928); Affairs of a Gentleman (1934); Alias Jimmy Valentine (1928); Cinemassacre's Monster Madness (2009); Dancing Mothers (1926); First Aid (1943); Freaks (1932); Gentleman's Fate (1931); Honor Bound (1928); Horse Play (1933); Hurricane (1929); Island of Lost Souls (1932); Land of the Silver Fox (1928); Masquerade (1929); May I Come In (1930); Men Call It Love (1931); New Adventures of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1931); No Ransom (1934); One-Round Hogan (1927); People Will Talk (1935); Red-Headed Woman (1932); Ruggles of Red Gap (1935); Sandra (1924); Saturday's Millions (1933); Schlitzie: One of Us; Sing Sinner Sing (1933); Spite Marriage (1929); Stepping Out (1931); Summer Bachelors (1926); Surrender (1931); Sweethearts and Wives (1930); The Big Broadcast (1932); The Big House (1930); The Bishop Murder Case (1929); The Branded Sombrero (1928); The Brute (1927); The Bush Leaguer (1927); The Christmas Party (1931); The Constant Woman (1933); The Crimson City (1928); The Far Call (1929); The Flirting Widow (1930); The Girl Said No (1930); The Idle Rich (1929); The Kick-Off (1926); The Phantom of Paris (1931); The Poor Rich (1934); The Sins of the Children (1930); The Thirteenth Chair (1929); The Wizard (1927); Tod Browning's 'Freaks': The Sideshow Cinema (2004); Way for a Sailor (1930); Way Out West (1930); White Pants Willie (1927); Wonder of Women (1929); Yellow Dust (1936).