''Home Sweet Homicide'' is a 1946 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic 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. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

mystery film A mystery film is a 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 of clues, ...

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 numerous genres, including westerns, musicals, comedies, gangster films, and c ...

and starring

Peggy Ann Garner Peggy Ann Garner (February 3, 1932 – October 16, 1984) was an American child actress. As a child actress, Garner had her first film role in 1938. At the 18th Academy Awards, Garner won the Academy Juvenile Award, recognizing her body of ...

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

and

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

. It was based on the 1944 eponymous mystery novel by Craig Rice. Though he would make a further 39 films, ''Home Sweet Homicide'' is the second-to-last non-

western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

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 *

as Dinah *

as Marian *

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he appeared in '' Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), '' ...

as Archie * Connie Marshall as April *

Stanley Logan Stanley Logan (born Stanley William Maurice Logan; 12 June 1885 – 30 January 1953) was an English actor, screen writer, theatre director and film director. Biography Stanley Logan was born on 12 June 1885 in Earlsfield, Greater London, Engl ...

as Cherrington * Anabel Shaw 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. Whit ...

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." Early life Gleason was ...

as Sgt. O'Hare * Sheppard Strudwick as Wallace Sanford *

Lenita Lane Lenita Mary Lane (December 16, 1901 – March 15, 1995) was an American stage and film actress. She appeared in several Broadway plays before turning to movies. Her more than two dozen movie appearances include '' The Mad Magician'' (1954) ...

as Mrs. Flora Sanford *

Olin Howland Olin Ross Howland (February 10, 1886 – September 20, 1959) was an American film and theatre actor. Life and career Howland was born in Denver, Colorado, to Joby A. Howland, one of the youngest enlisted participants in the Civil War, an ...

as Luke *

Marietta Canty Marietta Canty (September 30, 1905 – July 9, 1986) was an American actress, community activist and recipient of numerous humanitarian awards. Early days Canty was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the daughter of Mary and Henry Canty, who atten ...

as Cherrington Housekeeper * Pat Flaherty as Murphy *

James Seay James Seay (September 9, 1914 – October 10, 1992) was an American character actor who often played minor supporting roles as government officials. Early years Seay demonstrated an interest in acting at an early age, as he and his mothe ...

as Frank Riley

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

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 English-language mystery films {{mystery-film-stub