Home Sweet Homicide

1946 "MYSTERY FICTION COMES TO LIFE...WITH LAUGHING, BAFFLING SUSPENSE!"
7| 1h30m| NR| en
Details

Mystery writer Marian Carstairs is hard at work trying to finish her latest novel. Her three children meanwhile are entertaining themselves by trying to solve a murder in their own neighborhood. In between gathering clues, the kids play matchmaker by trying to fix up their widowed mom with the handsome detective investigating the case.

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Reviews

Wordiezett So much average
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Paularoc The movie is based on the book of the same name by Craig Rice, who was a popular mystery writer in her time. This movie is a pretty faithful adaption of the book and is somewhat autobiographical. Marian Carstairs (played by the underrated Lynn Bari) is a widow who writes mystery books featuring Detective Bill Smith as the protagonist. Her three children (Dinah, the eldest, April, and Archie, the youngest who is bossed around by his sisters and rightly resents it). Even so, the banter between the youngsters and their obvious fondness for each other and their mother is refreshing. When a murder happens in their neighborhood, the siblings decide they need to solve it and make sure their mother gets the credit for doing so and in that way she will get a lot of publicity for her books. Leading the murder investigation is a detective coincidentally named "Bill Smith," nicely played by Randolph Scott. Smith's partner, Sgt. O'Hare (played by the always excellent James Gleason) is continually frustrated by the youngsters' antics. In their effort to solve the mystery for their mother and to protect the husband of the victim from being accused of the murder, the children come up with the harebrained and potentially dangerous idea of giving the police untrue information. They also come up with the idea that Lt. Smith would be a good beau for their mother. This really isn't much of a mystery as it's easy to figure out who the murderer is but it is a delightful and highly entertaining movie. The siblings, played by Peggy Ann Garner, Connie Marshall, and Dean Stockwell work wonderfully well together and are a highlight of this movie. This movie has one of the best introductory credits I've ever seen. A group is singing a sedate "Home Sweet Home." The rendition is interrupted by screaming and other murderous sounds. It's hilarious. For those interested in Craig Rice, Jeffrey Marks has written an excellent biography of her entitled "Who was that lady? Craig Rice: queen of the screwball comedy."
rigokurt As with the rest of you Home Sweet Homicide has been on my wish list for years. I too first saw this minor classic on New York's great Million Dollar Movie. Well good news all! While researching this title I discovered a site through Amazon that sells a public domain-ish VHS tape of Home Sweet Homicide. The quality is a little murky sometimes but it is most certainly watchable. The company I purchased it from is: Life Is A Movie, 3639 Midway Drive, Suite B-326, San Diego, CA 92110-5254Toll Free Telephone: 888-403-0873Email: custserv@lifeisamovie.comThe total cost was $16.97Enjoy!
valenworth One of my Treasures. I was lucky enough to get a beautiful VHS off TV many years ago. I even got the "photoplay edition" of the book and had the dust-jacket photo copied to use as a cover for the tape. Also have a lobby card. The cast was exraordinary (I still have a crush on Connie Marshall) and I've become a huge Lynn Bari fan...I, too, keep hoping 20th Century Fox will put out a DVD...
chyde Very enjoyable, a number of subtle visual jokes (note the turtle that Dean Stockwell has in one scene). Wish it was on videotape.James Gleason goes on about how he knows how to handle kids because he has six, but it's clear he doesn't, and as a result Lynn Bari's kids solve the mystery where the police can't.Book also good, even harder to find.