The Case of the Howling Dog
The Case of the Howling Dog | |
---|---|
Sam Bischoff | |
Starring | Warren William Mary Astor |
Cinematography | William Rees |
Edited by | James Gibbon |
Music by | Bernhard Kaun |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Case of the Howling Dog is a 1934 American mystery film directed by Alan Crosland, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Erle Stanley Gardner. It is first in a series of six Perry Mason films Warner Bros. made between the years 1934 and 1937.
The film stars Warren William and Mary Astor. William would star as Mason in the first four films: after The Case of the Howling Dog there were: The Case of the Curious Bride (1935), The Case of the Lucky Legs (1935), and The Case of the Velvet Claws (1936). Ricardo Cortez took over the role of Perry Mason in the fifth film, The Case of the Black Cat (1936), then Donald Woods became Mason in the sixth, The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937). Each film in the series would feature a different actress portraying Della Street except for Claire Dodd, who played her twice; in this movie Street is portrayed by Helen Trenholme. The characters were revived in the popular CBS television series Perry Mason which starred Raymond Burr as Perry Mason.
Plot
Severely agitated by the howling of a
Foley attempts to file a complaint of
Perry's
During the trial, Perry discredits the cab driver's identification of his passenger when he demonstrates that he misidentified Della as Bessie. During his cross-examination of Lucy, Perry has the trial shifted to the scene of the crime, shows that the dog was devoted to all three women, and proves that Lucy was Foley's lover and is ambidextrous, writing the note, the telegram, and the diary page with her left hand. Just then, workers excavating the foundation of the garage addition discover the bodies of Cartwright and Evelyn, murdered by Foley. Bessie is acquitted after Perry in closing arguments states that because the dog loved her, he would never have attacked Bessie and been killed, destroying the prosecution's only other link of Bessie to the crime. After the trial, Perry presents Bessie with a dog that looks just like the dead animal, and the dog delightedly greets Bessie. Perry states that when the howling suddenly stopped, he searched kennels in the area and found one where a man matching Foley's description exchanged the dog for a lookalike. He gives Bessie the dog and orders her not to tell anyone what really happened. Perry later tells Della that he is sure that whatever Bessie did was in self-defense, and that she cannot be tried again for the murder due to double jeopardy.
Cast
- Warren William as Perry Mason
- Mary Astor as Bessie Foley
- Gordon Westcott as Arthur Cartwright
- Allen Jenkins as Detective Sergeant Holcomb
- Grant Mitchell as District Attorney Claude Drumm
- Helen Trenholme as Della Street
- Helen Lowell as Elizabeth Walker, Cartwright's Housekeeper
- Dorothy Tree as Lucy Benton
- Harry Tyler as Sam Martin, Taxi Driver
- Arthur Aylesworth as Sheriff Bill Pemberton
- Russell Hicksas Clinton Foley
- Frank Reicher as Dr. Carl Cooper
- Addison Richards as Judge Markham
- James P. Burtis as George Dobbs (as James Burtis)
- Eddie Shubert as Edgar 'Ed' Wheeler
- Harry Seymour as David Clark
- Lightning (dog) as Prince[1]
Production
This was the very first screen adaptation of a Perry Mason novel. Erle Stanley Gardner's first Perry Mason mystery The Case of the Velvet Claws was published in March 1933, just the previous year (it would go on to be adapted as the fourth entry in the Warner Bros. film series: The Case of the Velvet Claws). The book this movie was based on, The Case of the Howling Dog, came out in March 1934; the movie was released in September.[2]: 324 It was produced by First National Pictures, which since 1929 had been Warner Bros. trade name for the distribution of its modern comedies, dramas, and crime stories, but was dissolved the same year The Case of the Howling Dog came out.[3]: 66 [4]
Home media
On October 23, 2012,
References
This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2015) |
- OCLC 14234925.
- ISBN 0-688-03282-6.
- ISBN 0-517-53834-2.
- ^ "Film Concern Dissolves", The New York Times, July 12, 1936, p. F1.