Last Friday's Forgotten Book was Jonathan Latimer's 1935 novel Headed for a Hearse (HERE). The book seemed custom made for a film, and Hollywood must have agreed, because two years later Universal released it as The Westland Case. Sad as sad can be, this is one of those films I've yet to see, and I've been waiting dang near thirty years (ditto with the other Bill Crane film, The Lady in the Morgue). Is it any good? Maybe, maybe not. Does it live up to the book? Unlikely. That would be a tall order, because it's a damn good book.
Here's a teaser from YouTube:
This page appeared in the Sun Dial "Photoplay" edition of the book.
That was even before Preston Foster grew his mustache. I think I saw this in the late 30's in our old church and I probably fell asleep while it was playing, being too young to understand what was going on. I would've been six or seven.
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ReplyDeleteI read that Otis Garrett, the director of LADY IN THE MORGUE, did a great job on it. He was a former film editor that graduated to directing.
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