The Case of the Black Cat (1936)
Overview
Lawyer Perry Mason is summoned to the Laxter mansion in the dead of night to write granddaughter Wilma out of invalid Peter Laxter's will, to keep her from marrying suspected fortune hunter Doug. Peter dies in a mysterious fire and Laxter's two grandsons, Sam Laxter and Frank Oafley, inherit his estate on the condition old caretaker Schuster and his cat Clinker are kept on. When cat-hating Sam threatens Clinker, Perry steps in and learns Laxter's death was suspicious and the family fortune and diamonds are missing. Schuster's found dead in his basement apartment, Laxter's nurse Louise is murdered with Schuster's crutch, and circumstantial evidence brings Doug to trial for Louise's death. Mason's investigation produces a surprise witness who turns the trial around. Written by Sister Grimm
Production Companies
Additional Info
| Budget | $0.00 |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $0.00 |
| Original Language | en |
| Popularity | 1.393 |
Directed By
William C. McGann
Crew
Allen G. Siegler
Frank Magee
Hugh Reticker
Milo Anderson
William C. McGann
F. Hugh Herbert
Erle Stanley Gardner
Bryan Foy
Hal B. Wallis
Jack L. Warner
Heinz Roemheld
Carroll Sax
Sol Gorss
TOP CAST
Ricardo Cortez
Perry Mason
June Travis
Della Street
Jane Bryan
Wilma Laxter
Craig Reynolds
Frank Oafley
Carlyle Moore Jr.
Douglas Keene
Bill Elliott
Sam Laxter
Nedda Harrigan
Nurse Louise DeVoe
Garry Owen
Paul Drake
Harry Davenport
Peter Laxter
George Rosener
Charles Ashton
Gordon Hart
Dr. Jacobs
Clarence Wilson
Mr. Shuster
Guy Usher
District Attorney Hamilton Burger
Lottie Williams
Mrs. Pixley
Harry Hayden
Reverend Stillwell
Earl Askam
Desk Officer (uncredited)
Don Downen
Newsboy (uncredited)
Kenneth Gibson
Clerk (uncredited)
Sol Gorss
Poker Player (uncredited)
Harrison Greene
Worried Client (uncredited)
Chuck Hamilton
Bailiff (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee
Brandon - Oafley's Butler (uncredited)
Paul Kruger
Reporter (uncredited)
John Marston
Judge Robert Fellows (uncredited)
Edward McWade
Keene's Apartment Manager (uncredited)
Lyle Moraine
Reporter (uncredited)
Paul Panzer
Poker Player (uncredited)
Ferdinand Schumann-Heink
Mason's Driver (uncredited)
John Sheehan
Sergeant Holcomb (uncredited)
Billy Wayne
Poker Player (uncredited)
Claire White
Woman (uncredited)
Tom Wilson
Waffle Shop Construction Foreman (uncredited)
Frank Bruno
Construction Foreman (uncredited)
Similar Movies
Anatomy of a Murder
Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.
It's Not Her Sin
After the woman who nearly killed her is brought to trial, Eun-hie finds that she must take the stand to give evidence. However, the defense attempts to turn the tables on her by revealing her sordid past and trying to make it seem as if she deserved what happened to her.
A Trap
When her only relative, her elder brother is accused of robbing and murdering an old woman loan-shark, pretty, young Kiriko travels from her home in Kyushu to Tokyo to get Japan's top lawyer to defend her brother. Unfortunately her naive idealism is shattered when the lawyer refuses to take the case based on her insufficient funds. What follows is a long determined revenge plot that sees the heroine become a Tokyo bar hostess and worse to punish the lawyer. The plot thickens with another murder mystery and a sleuthing reporter.
Amanda Knox
This gripping, atmospheric documentary recounts the infamous trial, conviction and eventual acquittal of Seattle native Amanda Knox for the 2007 murder of a British exchange student in Italy.
A Time to Kill
A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.
Chopper
The true and infamous story of Australia's notorious criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read and his years of crime, interest in violence, drugs and prostitutes.
Ladies of the Jury
Society matron Mrs. Livingston Baldwin Crane is selected as a juror in the trial of former chorus girl Yvette Gordon, who's accused of murdering her rich older husband. In court and during deliberations, Mrs. Crane proves to be a disruptive and unorthodox juror.
The Ghost & Mr. Chicken
Luther Heggs, a typesetter for the town newspaper, pitches an idea for a story about a local haunted house where a famous murder/suicide occurred 20 years earlier. After the editor assigns Luther to spend one night alone in the mansion, Heggs has a number of supernatural encounters and writes a front page story that makes him a hometown hero...until the nephew of the deceased sues him for libel.
The Thin Blue Line
Errol Morris's unique documentary dramatically re-enacts the crime scene and investigation of a police officer's murder in Dallas.
A Son Comes Home
A mother experiences the torment of discovering that her own son is a killer.
Fury
Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wrongly mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested.
3000 Miles to Graceland
It was an ingenious enough plan: rob the Riviera Casino's count room during an Elvis impersonator convention. But Thomas Murphy decided to keep all the money for himself and shot all his partners, including recently-freed ex-con Michael Zane. With $3.2 million at stake, the Marshals Service closing in, Michael must track down Murphy.
Friend of the Friendless
Law professor Chris Gallivan examines the career of one of our country's best defence lawyers, Greg King. Through the lens of King's most sensational case – the defence of Ewen Macdonald for the murder of Scott Guy - Gallivan also raises serious questions about the state of criminal justice in New Zealand today.
A Murder of Crows
In the wake of a career-ending scandal, disgraced lawyer Lawson Russell moves to Key West, where he befriends aging novelist Christopher Marlowe. After letting Russell borrow his latest manuscript, Marlowe dies of a heart attack. When Russell publishes the dead man's manuscript under his own name, he makes the best-seller list—and unwittingly becomes the prime suspect in the investigation of a grisly multiple homicide.
The Juror
With his gangster boss on trial for murder, a mob thug known as "the Teacher" tells Annie Laird she must talk her fellow jurors into a not-guilty verdict, implying that he'll kill her son Oliver if she fails. She manages to do this, but, when it becomes clear that the mobsters might want to silence her for good, she sends Oliver abroad and tries to gather evidence of the plot against her, setting up a final showdown.
The Sword and the Balance
Three young men are suspected of kidnapping and murdering a little boy. Most likely, two of them are really involved, but one is not. All of their pasts are questionable, riddled with violence and controversy. Neither the police nor the court can decide how to solve that puzzle.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
When a younger girl called Emily Rose dies, everyone puts blame on the exorcism which was performed on her by Father Moore prior to her death. The priest is arrested on suspicion of murder. The trial begins with lawyer Erin Bruner representing Moore, but it is not going to be easy, as no one wants to believe what Father Moore says is true.
High Crimes
A female attorney learns that her husband is really a marine officer awol for fifteen years and accused of murdering fifteen civilians in El Salvador. Believing her husband when he tells her that he's being framed as part of a U.S. Military cover-up, the attorney defends him in a military court.
The Killer Is Loose
A savings-and-loan bank is robbed; later, a police wiretap identifies bank teller Leon Poole as the inside man. In capturing him, detective Sam Wagner accidentally kills Poole's young wife, and at his trial Poole swears vengeance against Wagner. Poole begins his plans to get revenge when he escapes his captors.
Murder by Invitation
The relatives of a rich old woman unsuccessfully try to have her declared insane, so they can divide up her money. To show them that there are no hard feelings, she invites them to her estate for the weekend so she can decide to whom she actually will leave her money when she dies. Soon, however, family members begin turning up dead.