''Home Sweet Homicide'' is an American mystery film directed by

Lloyd Bacon Lloyd Francis Bacon (December 4, 1889 – November 15, 1955) was an American screen, stage and vaudeville actor and film director. As a director he made films in virtually all genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, an ...

and released in 1946. It stars Peggy Ann Garner,

Randolph Scott George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of ...

and

Lynn Bari Lynn Bari (born Marjorie Schuyler Fisher, December 18, 1919 – November 20, 1989) was a film actress who specialized in playing sultry, statuesque man-killers in roughly 150 films for 20th Century Fox, from the early 1930s through the 1940s. ...

, and was based on the eponymous mystery novel by Craig Rice. The film features the line "The Gat had gittens," referring to a

handgun A handgun is a short-barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced ag ...

machine pistol A machine pistol is an autoloading pistol capable of fully automatic fire. The term can also be used to describe a stockless handgun-style submachine gun. The term is a calque of ''Maschinenpistole'', the German word for submachine guns. Ma ...

having been fired, as well as other slang terms for guns, such as "heater", "rod," and "piece." Though he would make 39 more films, ''Home Sweet Homicide'' is the second-to-last non-western film of Randolph Scott's career.

Plot

When gunshots are heard next door, the three children of widowed mystery novelist Marian Carstairs try to help the police help their mother solve the case or solve it themselves. Polly Walker, an actress, runs from the neighbors' house, telling police lieutenant Bill Smith that she had gone there to see Flora Sanford and found her dead. Flora was an agent who represented Polly as well as Marian, whose books feature a detective character with the same name as Bill's. Various suspects are considered, including other neighbors and Flora's hiding husband, who had fallen in love with Polly and wanted a divorce. The children begin sending anonymous letters, believing they are helping the investigation, until Bill finally persuades them to let him handle the case. He solves it, then expresses a romantic interest in Marian, pleasing the kids.

Cast

as Lt. Smith * Peggy Ann Garner as Dinah *

as Marian *

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including ''Anchors A ...

as Archie * Connie Marshall as April * Stanley Logan as Cherrington *

Anabel Shaw Anabel Shaw (born Marjorie Henshaw; June 24, 1921 – April 16, 2010) was an American film actress. Active during the 1940s and 1950s in a mixture of lead and supporting roles, she then made a few appearances on television. Biography Shaw was ...

as Polly *

Barbara Whiting Barbara Whiting Smith (May 19, 1931 – June 9, 2004) was an American actress and singer. Early life Whiting was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of music manager Eleanor Youngblood Whiting and composer Richard A. Whi ...

as Jo-Ella Holbrook *

James Gleason James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold." Life and career Gleason w ...

as Sgt. O'Hare

References

External links

* * 1946 films 20th Century Fox films American mystery films American black-and-white films Films directed by Lloyd Bacon 1946 mystery films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Craig Rice Films scored by David Buttolph 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{mystery-film-stub