''Mr. and Mrs. North'' is a 1942 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

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

Robert B. Sinclair Robert Bruce Sinclair (May 24, 1905 – January 3, 1970) was an American director who worked in film, theater and television. Early years Robert Bruce Sinclair was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of an insurance agent. He attended the University ...

, starring

Gracie Allen Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen (July 26, 1895 – August 27, 1964) was an American vaudevillian, singer, actress, and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, ap ...

and

William Post Jr. William Post Jr. (February 19, 1901 – September 26, 1989) was an American actor and drama instructor. He was sometimes billed without the use of "Jr." following his surname. Early life Post was born February 19, 1901, in Montclair, New Jers ...

as detectives Pam and Jerry North. The screenplay was based on a 1941 Broadway play by Owen Davis, which in turn was based on a series of mystery novels by

Frances and Richard Lockridge Richard Orson Lockridge (September 26, 1898 in St. Joseph, Missouri – June 19, 1982 in Tryon, North Carolina) was an American writer of detective fiction. Richard Lockridge with his wife Frances created one of the most famous American mystery ...

. Pam North, a dizzy socialite, and her husband Jerry return home from a vacation to find a dead body in their apartment. All the suspects are close friends of the Norths, a fact that encourages Pam to gently interfere in the ongoing murder investigation conducted by Lt. Weigand ( Paul Kelly).

Plot

Jerry North and his wife Pam return home after a night away in a holiday spirit. The spirit soon vanishes when the body of a man falls out of their liquor closet. The corpse is identified as Stanley Brent, the estranged husband of Carol Brent, a friend of Pam's. As the clues are unearthed, it appears that some member of the North's social circle, who knew they would be away, gained entrance to their apartment, asked Brent to come there and murdered him. Pam tries to establish alibis for all of her friends, and in doing so inadvertently establishes who killed Brent.

Cast

Production

The film was based on the 1941 play of the same name, which ran for 163 performances at the

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York Ci ...

in New York. It featured Albert Hackett and Peggy Conklin in the title roles, as well as Millard Mitchell as Detective Mullins, a role he reprised for the film. The play itself was based on three short stories by Richard and Frances Lockridge that were featured in the ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * ''The New ...

'' magazine in 1940. This production was Gracie Allen's first movie since ''

The Gracie Allen Murder Case ''The Gracie Allen Murder Case'' (1938) (also published as ''The Scent of Murder'') is the eleventh of twelve detective novels by S. S. Van Dine featuring his famous fictional detective of the 1920s and 1930s, Philo Vance. It also features the ...

'', which was released in 1939.

References

External links

* * 1942 comedy films 1940s American films 1942 films American comedy mystery films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Robert B. Sinclair 1940s comedy mystery films American black-and-white films 1940s parody films American parody films {{mystery-film-stub