''Slightly Honorable'' is a 1939 American

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by

Tay Garnett William Taylor "Tay" Garnett (June 13, 1894 – October 3, 1977) was an American film director and writer. Biography Early life Born in Los Angeles, Garnett attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as a naval aviator in Wo ...

and starring

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons * Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others * Pat O' ...

, Edward Arnold and

Broderick Crawford William Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning portrayal of Willie Stark in '' All ...

. The film was based on the 1939 novel ''Send Another Coffin'' by Frank Gilmore Presnell, Jr. (1906–1967).Frank Gilmore Presnell, Jr. (24 June 1906 (Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico) – 28 February 1967 (Los Angeles, California, USA)). * Obituary, ''Chillicothe Gazette'' (Chillicothe, Ohio, USA), March 1, 1967, p. 2. * California Death Index, 1940-1997

Plot

Cast

as John Webb * Edward Arnold as Vincent Cushing *

as Russ Sampson *

Ruth Terry Ruth Mae Terry (born Ruth Mae McMahon, October 21, 1920 – March 11, 2016) was an American singer and actress in film and television from the 1930s to the 1960s. She claimed her stage name came from Walter Winchell, who combined the names ...

as Ann Seymour *

Alan Dinehart Mason Alan Dinehart Sr. (born Harold Alan Dinehart; October 3, 1889 – July 18, 1944) was an American actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Biography Dinehart initially studied to be a priest, but he turned to the theater instead. ...

as District Attorney Joyce *

Claire Dodd Claire Dodd (born Dorothy Arlene Dodd; December 29, 1911 – November 23, 1973) was an American film actress. Life and work Dorothy Arlene Dodd was born on December 29, 1911, in Baxter, Iowa, to Walter Willard Dodd, a farmer whose family ...

as Alma Brehmer *

Phyllis Brooks Phyllis Brooks (July 18, 1915 – August 1, 1995) was an American actress and model. She was born in Boise, Idaho. Some sources have also inaccurately cited 1914 as her year of birth, but 1915 is the correct year according to Social Security r ...

as Sarilla Cushing *

Eve Arden Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades. Beginning her film career in 1929 ...

as Miss Ater *

Douglass Dumbrille Douglass Rupert Dumbrille (October 13, 1889 – April 2, 1974) was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s. Life and career Douglass Dumbrille ( ) was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a young man, he was employed ...

as George Taylor *

Bernard Nedell Bernard Jay Nedell (October 14, 1898 – November 23, 1972) was an American film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1916 and 1972. He was born in New York, New York and died in Hollywood, California. He was married to actress Olive Bla ...

as Pete Godena *

Douglas Fowley Douglas Fowley (born Daniel Vincent Fowley, May 30, 1911 – May 21, 1998) was an American movie and television actor in more than 240 films and dozens of television programs, He is probably best remembered for his role as the frustrated m ...

as Madder *

Ernest Truex Ernest Truex (September 19, 1889 – June 26, 1973) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Career Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Truex learned acting at an early age after his father, a doctor, treated actor Edwin Melvin, who ...

as P. Hemingway Collins *

Janet Beecher Janet Beecher (born Janet Meysenberg; October 21, 1884 – August 6, 1955) was an American stage and screen actress. Early years The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Von Meysenburg, Beecher was born in Jefferson City, Missouri. Her sister was ...

as Mrs. Cushing *

Evelyn Keyes Evelyn Louise Keyes (November 20, 1916 – July 4, 2008) was an American film actress. She is best known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film '' Gone with the Wind''. Early life Evelyn Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, to Omar D ...

as Miss Vlissingen * John Sheehan as Mike Daley *

Addison Richards Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than three hundred films between 1933 and his death. Biography A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richa ...

as Inspector Fromm *

Cliff Clark Cliff Clark (June 10, 1889 – February 8, 1953) was an American actor. He entered the film business in 1937 after a substantial stage career and appeared in over 200 Hollywood films. In the last years of his life, he also played in a numb ...

as Captain Graves

Reception

The film recorded a loss of $107,709.

Home media

Vestron Video Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut, that was active from 1981 to 1993, and is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market. The name is now used for a collecto ...

never owned the complete rights to this film, alongside '' Sundown'' and ''

The Woman of the Town ''The Woman of the Town'' is a 1943 American Western film directed by George Archainbaud and written by Aeneas MacKenzie. The film stars Claire Trevor, Albert Dekker, Barry Sullivan, Henry Hull, Porter Hall, Percy Kilbride and Clem Bevans. Th ...

'', other companies such as

Video Treasures Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television se ...

and

Alpha Video Alpha Video (also known as Alpha Home Entertainment) is an entertainment company, based near Philadelphia, that specializes in the manufacturing and marketing of public domain movies and TV shows on DVD. Alpha Video releases approximately 30 ...

have been able to release home video versions of ''Slightly Honorable'' for the past decades, with the quality of the prints used varying by distributor. The first home video release was in 1980, when Time-Life Video released it on the

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, as in its logo) is a consumer-level analog recording and cassette format of magnetic tape for video, commonly known as a video cassette recorder. It was developed by Sony and was released in Japan on May 10, 197 ...

and VHS formats, and on April 17, 2012, Mill Creek Entertainment released a digitally restored version of the film on DVD as part of their ''Dark Crimes: 50 Movie Set'' DVD box set.

References

External links

* * 1939 films American mystery films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films directed by Tay Garnett United Artists films Films produced by Walter Wanger 1939 mystery films Films scored by Werner Janssen 1930s American films {{mystery-film-stub