The Crooked Circleis a 1932 Americanpre-Codefilm, a comedy-mystery directed byH. Bruce Humberstone.
| The Crooked Circle | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | H. Bruce Humberstone |
| Written by | Ralph Spence(original screenplay) Tim Whelan(additional dialogue) |
| Produced by | William Sistrom |
| Cinematography | Robert Kurrle |
| Edited by | Doane Harrison |
| Distributed by | Sono Art-World Wide Pictures(1932 release) Astor Pictures(re-release) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
In 1933,The Crooked Circlewas the first feature film shown ontelevision.In Los Angeles, theDon Lee Broadcasting Systemshowed the film on March 10, 1933, over their experimental stationW6XAO,transmitting an 80-line resolutionmechanical televisionpicture to a half-dozen or fewer receiving sets in the greater Los Angeles area. The film was shown again on June 18, 1940 on theNBC Televisionexperimental station WX2BS, nowWNBC-TVin New York City.[1][2][3]
Plot
editAmateur detectives in the Sphinx Club are rivals of an evil gang known as The Crooked Circle. When a Sphinx tip leads to an arrest of a Crooked Circle member, they swear revenge on Sphinx member Colonel Theodore Walters. Nora Rafferty complains to Old Dan about life in creepy Melody Manor.
Brand Osborne intends to resign from the Sphinx Club, and his replacement is the Indian Yoganda, who proclaims, "Evil is on the way." When Rafferty sees Yoganda's turban, she says, "I'm sorry you got a headache, sir. Shall I get you aBromo-Seltzer?"Policeman Arthur Crimmer attempts to straighten out the confusion.
Cast
edit- ZaSu Pittsas Nora Rafferty
- James Gleasonas Arthur Crimmer
- Ben Lyonas Brand Osborne
- Irene Purcellas Thelma Parker
- C. Henry Gordonas Yoganda
- Raymond Hattonas Harmon (The Hermit)
- Roscoe Karnsas Harry Carter
- Berton Churchillas Col. Walters
- Spencer Chartersas Kinny
- Robert Frazeras The Stranger
- Ethel Claytonas Yvonne
- Frank Reicheras Rankin
- Christian Rubas Old Dan
- Tom Kennedyas Mike, the policeman
See also
edit- Party Girl,the first commercial comedy-drama feature film shown on the Internet
References
edit- ^Dargis, Manohla. "Floating in the Digital Experience,"The New York Times,December 30, 2009.
- ^The Crooked Circle:Details,archive.org; accessed September 23, 2015.
- ^"Television"(Newspapers ).Los Angeles Evening Post-Record.Los Angeles CA. March 25, 1933. p. 6.
External links
edit- The Crooked CircleatIMDb
- The Crooked Circleis available for free viewing and download at theInternet Archive
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