The Canary Murder Case, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1929. The Canary Murder Case is a detective story involving
an amateur sleuth, a blackmailing showgirl, and the “swells” that
surround her. The film was initially shot as a silent, and shortly
thereafter reworked for sound. Louise Brooks, who plays the canary,
would not dub her lines for the sound version. Her refusal and perceived
“difficulty” harmed her career, effectively ending her stardom in the
United States. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society filmography page.
Production of the film took place between September 11 and October 12,
1928 at Paramount’s studio in Hollywood. Sound retakes took place on
and around December 19, 1928. Malcolm St. Clair directed
The Canary Murder Case, with Frank
Tuttle taking over the sound retakes. The film was released as an 80
minute talkie in most markets, and as a shorter silent in theater’s not
yet “wired for sound.” A few publications, such as
The Film Daily, reviewed both formats.
Based on a bestselling book of the same name, The Canary Murder Case was released to great anticipation. In February, 1929 Motion Picture
named the film one of the best for the month, declaring “William Powell
is superb. The rest of the players, including Louise Brooks, Jean
Arthur, James Hall, Charles Lane, Gustav Von Seyffertitz and many
others, win credit.” That opinion, however, was not shared by most. More
typical of the reviews the film received was that of the New York World, who declared the film “an example of a good movie plot gone wrong as the result of spoken dialogue.”
Mordaunt Hall, writing in the New York Times, was more
generous, “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.” Billboard added “Louise Brooks is
mediocre as the Canary, but this does not detract from the production,
as she appears in but a few scenes.”
Louella Parsons, writing in the Los Angeles Examiner, stated
St. Clair “was handicapped by no less a person than Louise Brooks, who
plays the Canary. You are conscious that the words spoken do not
actually emanate from the mouth of Miss Brooks and you feel that as much
of her part as possible has been cut. She is unbelievably bad in a role
that should have been well suited to her. Only long shots are permitted
of her and even these are far from convincing when she speaks.”
Parson’s comments were echoed by Margaret L. Coyne of the Syracuse Post-Standard,
who observed, “The only flaw is the substitution of another voice for
that of Louise Brooks — the Canary — making necessary a number of
subterfuges to disguise the fact.”
All were not fooled. The Oakland Post-Enquirer and other
publications eventually caught on. “It is generally known by this time
that Margaret Livingston doubled for Louise Brooks in the dialogue
sequences. Hence the not quite perfect synchronization in close-ups and
the variety of back views and dimly photographed profiles of the
Canary.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer quipped “The role of the murdered
girl is played by Louise Brooks, who is much more satisfying optically
than auditorily.” Writing in Life magazine, Harry Evans went
further, suggesting Brooks’ didn’t speak well. “Louise Brooks, who
furnishes the sex-appeal, is evidently a poorer conversationalist than
Miss Arthur, because all of her articulation is obviously supplied by a
voice double.” It was an assertion that would haunt Brooks for years.
Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place
in Australia (including Tasmania), Bermuda, British Malaysia
(Singapore), Canada, China, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), India,
Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Trinidad, and the United Kingdom
(England, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales).
Elsewhere,
The Canary Murder Case was shown under the title
Die Stimme aus dem Jenseits (Austria);
O drama de uma noite (Brazil);
El Crimen de la Canaria (Cuba);
Die Stimme aus dem Jenseits and
Kanárkový vražedný prípad (Czechoslovakia) and
Hlas Ze Záhrobí (Slovakia);
Die Stimme Aus Dem Jensits (Danzig);
Hvem dræbte Margaret O’Dell? (Denmark);
De Kanarie Moordzaak (Dutch East Indies – Indonesia);
Hääl teisest maailmast and
Hääl teisest ilmast (Estonia);
Salaperainen Rikos and
Ett hemlighetsfullt brott and
Det hemlighetsfulla brottet (Finland);
Le meurtre du Canari (France);
Die Stimme Aus Dem Jensits (Germany);
Kandari Gyilkosság and
Gyilkossag a szailoban (Hungary);
La canarina assassinata and
Il caso della canarina assassinata (Italy); カナリヤ殺人事件 (Japan); 카나리아 머더 케이스 (Korea);
De Kanarie Moordzaak (The Netherlands);
I Kanarifuglens Garn and
I fristerinnens garn (Norway);
Kryyk z za Swlatow (Poland);
Die stimme aus dem Jenseits (Poland, German language publication);
O Drama duma Noite (Portugal);
Kdo je morilec? (Slovenia);
¿Quién la mató? (Spain, including The Canary Islands);
Midnattsmysteriet (Sweden); and Дело об убийстве канарейки (U.S.S.R.).
SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:
—S. S. van Dine is the pseudonym used by art critic Willard Huntington Wright (1888 –
1939) when he wrote detective novels. Wright was an important figure in
avant-garde cultural circles in pre-WWI New York, and under the
pseudonym (which he originally used to conceal his identity) he created
the once immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance, a sleuth and
aesthete who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in movies and
on the radio in the following decades.
— Wright was one of the best-selling authors in the United States. The Canary Murder Case was
the second book in a popular series featuring Vance — though the film made
from it was the first in the series to feature the character. William
Powell revived his role as Vance in four additional films, including The Greene Murder Case, released later in 1929. Other actors who played Vance include Basil Rathbone and Edmund Lowe.
— S.S. van Dine’s novel was loosely based
on the real-life murder of showgirl Dot King, which was never solved.
King was among those nicknamed “Broadway Butterflies.”
— Glenn Wilson, a Federal investigator
attached to the bureau of criminal investigation for Los Angeles county,
reportedly served as an adviser on the film.
— In a 1931 article on the cinema in Singapore, the New York Times
notes that “Asiatics love the gangster film, but very few are shown,
owing to the censorship regulations which bar gun battles and will not
tolerate an actual ‘kill’ on the screen. The first cuts made before they
decide to ban all films of this type were very clumsy and made a
mystery story a bigger mystery than ever. For instance, in the Canary Murder Case.”
— In a 1974 article about Henri Langlois, the Los Angeles Times reported the French archivist was looking for the silent version of The Canary Murder Case. [I have recently learned that the silent version may no longer exist, as the silent version held by one notable archive is in fact the sound version stripped of the added sound.]
— An Italian TV version of the story,
directed by Marco Leto and featuring Giorgio Albertazzi as Philo Vance
and Virna Lisi as the Canary, was broadcast in 1974.
THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas
Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com).
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