![Louise Brooks stars in "The Canary Murder Case," a classic detective film from 1929.](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/large_lightbox/hash/5c/f9/5cf92a4d2237aeab7998ee8f8bd0976c.jpg "Louise Brooks stars in "The Canary Murder Case," a classic detective film from 1929.")
This Friday, the Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York will show The Canary Murder Case (Malcolm St. Clair & Frank Tuttle, 1929). This now seldom screened picture features Louise Brooks in the title role of a beautiful blackmailing showgirl.
Originally shot as a silent film, this now classic whodunit exemplifies Hollywood’s transition from the silent to the sound era. Screen legend Brooks (whose voice was doubled by Margaret Livingston after Brooks refused to reshoot her scenes for the sound version) plays the Canary, a nightclub performer whose murder is the focus of an investigation by detective Philo Vance (played by William Powell in an early role).
The Canary Murder Case is notable for many reasons. It was the first film in which the popular detective Philo Vance appeared – many would follow. The Canary Murder Case is also the last American film in which Brooks had a starring role. Her refusal to reshoot her scenes effectively ended her career in the United States.
The film’s otherwise notable cast includes Jean Arthur, James Hall, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Eugene Pallette, and Louis John Bartels. This Paramount film was based on the immensely popular novels by S.S. van Dine. (The Canary Murder Case was the second in the series of van Dine books, though the first made into a film.) The bestselling author also wrote the film’s dialogue, and Travis Banton designed costumes.
The Canary Murder Case was something of a minor hit in 1929. The critic for Variety noted “As an all-talk murder mystery melodrama, The Canary Murder Case will occupy the front rank, for its plot has been constructed so intelligently that it is logical almost in every one of the situations.”
However, Mordaunt Hall, writing in the New York Times, expressed what just about everyone noticed, “It is on the whole the best talking-mystery production that has been seen, which does not imply that it is without failings. It is quite obvious that Louise Brooks, who impersonates Margaret Odell, alias the Canary, does not speak her lines. Why the producers should have permitted them to be uttered as they are is a mystery far deeper than the story of this picture.”
Friday’s screening will be preceded by a special presentation by Ira Resnick, author of Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood. Resnick is a well known collector of movie posters and movie art, and his new book bears a special relationship to Brooks, who for many years at the end of her life made her home just blocks away from the Dryden Theater.
In his new book, Resnick, who made his name as a photographer and the owner of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery (the first gallery devoted exclusively to the art of the movies), writes about his "passion" for Brooks and relays an anecdote or two behind his acquisition of some marvelous lobby cards, posters, one sheets, and stills featuring the actress. For those keeping count, there are ten drop-dead gorgeous Brooks-related images in the book. One of them is for The Canary Murder Case.
Fans will also want to listen to WXXI’s “Connection with Bob Smith” radio program, broadcast from 1 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 10. The show will feature a one-hour live interview with Ira Resnick and Eastman House’s Jim Healy, assistant curator of motion pictures. The interview will stream online at http://interactive.wxxi.org/listen
For more info: Ira Resnick’s presentation, and the screening of The Canary Murder Case, will take place at 8 pm on June 11th at the Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. More info at http://dryden.eastmanhouse.org/films/ira-resnick-in-person-the-canary-murder-case/
Thomas Gladysz is a longtime fan of Louise Brooks, so much so he founded the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and fan club devoted to the legendary silent film star. Gladysz has contributed to books on the actress, organized exhibits, appeared on television, and introduced her films around the country. Recently, he edited and wrote the introduction to the "Louise Brooks edition" of Margarete Böhme's classic novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl.
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