The Firebird (1934 film)

1934 film

The Firebird

Directed by| William Dieterle
Screenplay by| Charles Kenyon
Jeffrey Dell (adaptation)
Based on| Tűzmadár
1932 play
by Lajos Zilahy
Produced by| Gilbert Miller
Starring| Verree Teasdale
Ricardo Cortez
Lionel Atwill
Anita Louise
Cinematography| Ernest Haller
Edited by| Ralph Dawson
Music by| Leo F. Forbstein

Production
company

Warner Bros.

Distributed by| Warner Bros. / The Vitaphone Corp.

Release date

* November 3, 1934 (1934-11-03)

Running time

| 74-75 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English

The Firebird is a 1934 American murder mystery film starring Verree Teasdale, Ricardo Cortez, Lionel Atwill and Anita Louise, directed by William Dieterle and produced and released by Warner Bros. It takes its title from the Firebird suite by Igor Stravinsky, which is heard occasionally during the film.

## Plot[edit]

In Vienna, smarmy matinee idol Brandt moves into an upscale apartment building whose principal tenants are the elite Pointer family: John, Carola and daughter Mariette, who's just turned 18. One day, Brandt encounters Carola on the stairwell and insists she come up to his apartment that night, telling her if she doesn't, he'll tell her husband they had the affair anyway. Outraged, she files a formal complaint with the building's owners, demanding he be kicked out. But before that can happen, he is found dead from a gunshot wound. Naturally suspicion falls on a variety of suspects, most obviously John, and it's up to police inspector Miller to figure out which of them did it.[1]

## Cast[edit]

* Verree Teasdale as Carola Pointer
* Ricardo Cortez as Herman Brandt
* Lionel Atwill as John Pointer
* Anita Louise as Mariette Pointer
* C. Aubrey Smith as Police Inspector Miller
* Dorothy Tree as Mrs. Jolan Brandt
* Helen Trenholme as Mlle. Josephine Mousquet
* Hobart Cavanaugh as Emile
* Robert Barrat as Halasz
* Hal K. Dawson as Assistant Stage Manager
* Russell Hicks as Mr. Beyer
* Spencer Charters as Max Bauer
* Etienne Girardot as Professor Peterson
* Florence Fair as Thelma
* Nan Grey as Alice von Attem (as Nan Gray)
* Skippy as Rex (Uncredited)

## Reception[edit]

The New York Times reviewer, Andre Sennwald, dismissed it as "an ordinary mystery melodrama." "Among the definite failings of this smoothly filmed edition of Lajos Zilahy's play is the circumstance that, like the original, it conceals the actual murderer from the audience for such an extended period that the motivation for the homicide never becomes completely real."[1]

## See also[edit]

* Cette nuit-là (1933), French film based on the play Muvesz Szinhaz
* The Open Door (1957), Spanish film based on the play Muvesz Szinhaz

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Andre Sennwald (November 15, 1934). "The Firebird (1934): The Screen; Murder of a Disagreeable Actor in 'The Firebird,' the New Photoplay at the Strand". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016.

## External links[edit]

* The Firebird at IMDb
* The Firebird at the TCM Movie Database
* The Firebird at AllMovie
* The Firebird at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

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Films directed by William Dieterle

* Man by the Wayside (1923)
* Behind the Altar (1927)
* The Saint and Her Fool (1928)
* Sex in Chains (1928)
* Rustle of Spring (1929)
* Ludwig II, King of Bavaria (1929)
* Triumph of Love (1929)
* The Brandenburg Arch (1929)
* Silence in the Forest (1929)
* The Dance Goes On (1930)
* Kismet (1931)
* The Mask Falls (1931)
* Demon of the Sea (1931)
* One Hour of Happiness (1931)
* The Sacred Flame (1931)
* The Last Flight (1931)
* Her Majesty, Love (1931)
* Man Wanted (1932)
* Jewel Robbery (1932)
* The Crash (1932)
* Six Hours to Live (1932)
* Scarlet Dawn (1932)
* Lawyer Man (1933)
* Adorable (1933)
* The Devil's in Love (1933)
* Grand Slam (1933)
* Female (1933)
* From Headquarters (1933)
* Fog Over Frisco (1934)
* Fashions of 1934 (1934)
* Madame Du Barry (1934)
* Dr. Monica (1934)
* The Firebird (1934)
* The Secret Bride (1934)
* A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
* Dr. Socrates (1935)
* The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935)
* The White Angel (1936)
* Satan Met a Lady (1936)
* The Great O'Malley (1937)
* The Prince and the Pauper (1937)
* Another Dawn (1937)
* The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
* Blockade (1938)
* Juarez (1939)
* The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
* Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940)
* A Dispatch from Reuters (1940)
* The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
* Syncopation (1942)
* Tennessee Johnson (1943)
* Kismet (1944)
* I'll Be Seeing You (1944)
* Love Letters (1945)
* This Love of Ours (1945)
* The Searching Wind (1946)
* Duel in the Sun (1946)
* Portrait of Jennie (1948)
* The Accused (1949)
* Rope of Sand (1949)
* Paid in Full (1950)
* Vulcano (1950)
* September Affair (1950)
* Dark City (1950)
* Peking Express (1951)
* Red Mountain (1951)
* Boots Malone (1952)
* The Turning Point (1952)
* Salome (1953)
* Elephant Walk (1954)
* Magic Fire (1955)
* Omar Khayyam (1957)
* Dubrowsky (1959)
* Mistress of the World (1960)
* Carnival Confession (1960)
* Quick, Let's Get Married (1964)

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