IMDb > Murder at the Vanities (1934)

Murder at the Vanities (1934) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   169 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Up 19% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writers:

Earl Carroll (play)
Joseph Gollomb (writer)
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Contact:

View company contact information for Murder at the Vanities on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

18 May 1934 (USA) more

Genre:

Musical | Mystery more

Plot:

Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities... more | add synopsis

Plot Keywords:

User Comments:

No one EVER Made Movies Like This One!!! more (18 total)


Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Carl Brisson ... Eric Lander
Victor McLaglen ... Police Lt. Bill Murdock
Jack Oakie ... Jack Ellery

Kitty Carlisle ... Ann Ware
Dorothy Stickney ... Norma Watson
Gertrude Michael ... Rita Ross
Jessie Ralph ... Mrs. Helene Smith
Charles Middleton ... Homer Boothby (as Charles B. Middleton)
Gail Patrick ... Sadie Evans
Donald Meek ... Dr. J.T. Saunders
Toby Wing ... Nancy
Duke Ellington ... Himself (as Duke Ellington's Orchestra)
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Additional Details

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned)


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. more

Goofs:

Continuity: A door to a dressing room is slammed, shattering a good portion of the mirror attached to the door. A moment later, when the door is opened, the breakage has changed so that part of the mirror is restored. more

Movie Connections:

Referenced in End of Days (1999) more

Soundtrack:

Live and Love Tonight more


FAQ

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11 out of 15 people found the following comment useful.
No one EVER Made Movies Like This One!!!, 24 November 2005
9/10
Author: Peter Fairburn (psfrb@nb.sympatico.ca) from Shediac River, New Brunswick

There are moments in the film that are so dreadful, your teeth ache. But knowing that there were only weeks left before the Code made movies innocuous and bland, Paramount rushed this into production before innuendo and leering went out of style. Vanities is so horrifically anti-female that it's delicious. As Kitty Carlisle sings, women are displayed with price tags that would insult a Bronx hooker. They emerge from clams (nudge,nudge;wink,wink) in postures of absolute submission. Minions of the law, so stupid they cannot find the door, get to look up their skirts and snicker. Bare-breasted chorus girls sit uncomfortably in giant cacti (Could they be a source of hallucinogens, perhaps?) while we listen to "Sweet Marijuana" and watch as blood falls on a chorines's breast.

Sure, Carl Brisson learned his lines phonetically and doesn't seem to have a clue what he is saying. But it's all worth it as Norma steals the show while no one is looking.

Taking one moment of this fragile fluff seriously is missing the point of the whole exercise. Watch this with a charter member of NOW and prepare to justify the whole Hollywood machismo sch tick between body blows.

Toby Wing, by the way, is the icing on the cake. And Duke Ellington doesn't hurt either.

A must stroll down Memory Lane.

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