Murder at the Vanities (1934)
Music, Mystery, Comedy • 1h 29m
Overview
Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading lady Ann Ware, who wants to marry leading man Eric Lander. Stage manager Jack Ellery calls in his friend, policeman Bill Murdock, to help him investigate. Bill thinks Jack is offering to let him see the show from an unusual viewpoint after he forgot to get him tickets for the performance, but then they find the corpse of a murdered woman and Bill immediately suspects Eric of the crime.
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Cast: Carl Brisson, Victor McLaglen, Jack Oakie, Kitty Carlisle, Dorothy Stickney, Gertrude Michael, Jessie Ralph, Charles Middleton, Gail Patrick, Donald Meek, Toby Wing, Duke Ellington, Wanda Perry, Lucille Ball, Ann Sheridan, Alan Ladd, Lona Andre, William Arnold, Betty Bethune, Stanley Blystone, Virginia Davis, Dorothy Dawes, Barbara Fritchie, Gwenllian Gill, Mary Gordon, Mildred Gover, Beatrice Hagen, Ruth Hilliard, Otto Hoffman, Iris Lancaster, Charles McAvoy, Howard M. Mitchell, Juanita Moore, Dave O'Brien, Dennis O'Keefe, Laurie Shevlin, Teru Shimada, Gwynne Shipman, Frank Sully, Colin Tapley, Beryl Wallace, Cecil Weston, Vivian Wilson, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Ernestine Anderson, Lucille Battle, Mildred Boyd, Lenora Brown, Marion Callahan, Nancy Caswell, Marguerite Caverley, Juanita Clay, Paige Crane, Roy Crane, Helen Curtis, Mae Digges, Winnie Flint, Mary Flynn, Norah Gale, Zumetta Garnett, Catherine Grayson, Cleo Herndon, Shep Houghton, Inez Howard, Billie Huber, Diane Hunter, Patsy Hunter, Constance Jordan, Evelyn Kelly, Alyce Key, The King's Men, Patsy King, Mitchell Leisen, Rosalie Lincoln, Blanche McDonald, Leda Nicova, Ted Oliver, Esther Pressman, Arthur Rankin, Hazel Reese, Rita Rober, Ruth Scott, Honey Smith, Carolynne Snowden, Anya Taranda, Frances Turham, Flora Washington, Dorothy White, Dot Williams, Gladys Young, Hal Greene
Director: Alfred E. Green
Director: Alfred E. Green
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier & Max Marcin
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier & Max Marcin
Director: Frank Tuttle
Director: Frank Tuttle
Director: Clarence Brown
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Clarence Brown
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: John Ford
Warner Archive Blu-ray new restoration by Library of Congress and the Film Foundation
Director: John Ford
Warner Archive Blu-ray new restoration by Library of Congress and the Film Foundation
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Kino Lorber Carole Lombard Collection II Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Carole Lombard Collection II Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Carole Lombard Collection II Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Carole Lombard Collection II Blu-ray
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Director: Mitchell Leisen
Director: Orson Welles
MoC 4K Blu-ray and Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray are similar
Director: Orson Welles
MoC 4K Blu-ray and Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray are similar
Director: Sidney Lumet
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
2011 Criterion Blu-ray is the best. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has heavily filtered audio
Director: Sidney Lumet
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
2011 Criterion Blu-ray is the best. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has heavily filtered audio
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Ridley Scott
UK Universal 4K Blu-ray is missing Kino Lorber extras
Director: Ridley Scott
UK Universal 4K Blu-ray is missing Kino Lorber extras
Kino Lorber Blu-ray or Germany Blu-ray but no comparison available
Germany Blu-ray lacks English subtitles. Kino Lorber Blu-ray has English subtitles but is OOP
Kino Lorber Blu-ray or Germany Blu-ray but no comparison available
Germany Blu-ray lacks English subtitles. Kino Lorber Blu-ray has English subtitles but is OOP
Director: John Ford
Director: John Ford
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: Howard Deutch
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray vs Kino Lorber Blu-ray, but the compression on the 4K is bad.
Director: Howard Deutch
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray vs Kino Lorber Blu-ray, but the compression on the 4K is bad.
Director: Bryan Gordon
Director: Bryan Gordon
Director: John Waters
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor encoding see caps but still a huge improvement over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray Both the 2.0 and 5.1 tracks are improvements over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Theatrical cut is on the 4K disc, but the restored Director's Cut is only on the Blu-Ray disc. Director's Cut utilizes the same 4K transfer as the theatrical cut for 86 minutes, but the 6 minutes of restored footage could only be salvaged from a standard definition source and are thus needed to be upscaled.
Director: John Waters
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor encoding see caps but still a huge improvement over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray Both the 2.0 and 5.1 tracks are improvements over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Theatrical cut is on the 4K disc, but the restored Director's Cut is only on the Blu-Ray disc. Director's Cut utilizes the same 4K transfer as the theatrical cut for 86 minutes, but the 6 minutes of restored footage could only be salvaged from a standard definition source and are thus needed to be upscaled.
Edit History
6/2/2026
Format
From
DVD
To
1080p Blu-ray
From
DVD
To
1080p Blu-ray
12/1/2025
Format
Added
DVD
Added
DVD
Best English-Friendly Release
Added
Kino BD
Added
Kino BD
Best Video Release
Added
Kino BD
Added
Kino BD
Blu-ray.com
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https://www.blu-ray.com/Murder-at-the-Vanities/472989/#Releases
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https://www.blu-ray.com/Murder-at-the-Vanities/472989/#Releases
DVDBeaver
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http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/blu-ray_review_164/murder_at_the_vanities_blu-ray.htm
Added
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/blu-ray_review_164/murder_at_the_vanities_blu-ray.htm





























