Early Talkie

THE THIRTEENTH CHAIR-1929-This creaky old early talkie features (pre-Dracula) Bela Lugosi as an Inspector (who's not much better than Inspector Cousteau) who investigates a murder that took place during a séance. Conrad Nagel and Leila Hyams are the real stars. They play an engaged couple (he's rich, she's not and hides a secret about her mother). They and several others are all suspects of the murder of a police officer who was investigating another murder. A medium (Margret Wycherly, later James Cagney's mother in WHITE HEAT) may have been in cahoots with the officer in trying to catch the murderer. She's also the mother of the girl but no one knows it. 

This was Tod Browning's first sound film and like most of them around this time it's almost like a filmed play. One scene begins with  the actors waiting for their cue! Holmes Herbert is also in it.  Co-star Leila Hyams was later in Browning's FREAKS (and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS). She made her last film in 1936 and retired. She died in 1977.  

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Basil Before Sherlock

THE BISHOP MURDER CASE-1930-Basil Rathbone portrays detective Philo Vance in this early talkie. It involves several mysterious murders (one by bow and arrow). Vance uses a lot of analytical theorizing and there’s a comic know it all sergeant who helps out. I wonder if anyway remembered this when Rathbone was picked to first play Sherlock Holmes (in 1939) ?

Co-Star Leila Hyams was later in FREAKS and ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. She was a popular actress in the early ‘30’s but her screen career lasted only around ten years. Other co-star Roland Young later played “Topper” in a series of films and future director Delmer Daves has a small role.

Director Nick Grinde’s career began in the 1920’s. He was a fast competent worker but mostly his output remains undistinguished except for three of Boris Karloff’s “mad doctor” films. He uses several nice techniques in TBMC and keeps it from being more than just a filmed play as many early talkies were.

The Philo Vance character was created in 1926 by S.S. Van Dine (real name: Willard Huntington Vance) and was featured in 11 novels. TBMC was the fourth adaptation of a Dine novel to feature the Vance character. William Powell played him in the first three (and would play him once more in 1933) but this was the only time Rathbone portrayed him.

Warren William Paul Lukas Edmund Lowe and others would play him in the future but the last film
featuring the character would be in 1947.



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