--From upstairs in the big old stucco house they could hear the faint purr of a typewriter, working at top speed. Marian Carstairs, alias Clark Cameron, alias Andrew Thorpe, alias J.J. Lane, was finishing another mystery novel. When it was done, she would take a day off to have her hair shampooed and to buy presents for the young Carstairs. She would take them extravagantly out to dinner and to the best show in town. Then the next morning she would begin writing another mystery novel.
That's from Craig Rice's first-rate mystery novel, Home Sweet Homicide. In the first-rate movie made from the book, the young Carstairs are Dinah, played by 14-year-old Peggy Ann Garner; April, played by 11-year-old Connie Marshall; and Archie, played by 10-year-old Dean Stockwell. The three kids are smart, capable and resourceful. They pretty much run the house while their mother, played by Lynn Bari, cranks out three or four mysteries a year to pay the bills. The kids know how to clean the house, cook a turkey and keep relatively quiet while their mother, a widow, works upstairs. They also know, so they think, all about murders, police work and how to solve a crime. After all, their mother does it all the time. When one afternoon on the way to the malt shop they hear two gunshots and then find out the wife of a neighbor has been killed, they decide to do several things. They're going to protect the murdered woman's husband, the primary suspect, because they think he's innocent. They're going to keep one step ahead of the police so they can solve the crime and get some good publicity for their mother. And after meeting homicide detective Bill Smith, a tall and handsome cop played by Randolph Scott, they decide to become matchmakers for their mom. "You're a nervy bunch of kids," says one suspect, and he's right. Along the way there will be another murder, blackmail, a deadly intruder in the Carstairs' home and a mysterious Manila envelope, which holds secrets and just possibly the solution.
Home Sweet Homicide may not be a major classic, but it certainly is a charming minor classic. By stretching the definition of "noir" just a little, it becomes a satisfying first...a family noir. There may be no hopeless heroes, but there are a lot of dark staircases, shadowy silhouettes of a hand holding a pistol and creepy clubhouses. There's also a large pet turtle, something most conventional noirs don't have.
As attractive as Lynn Bari and Randolph Scott are as the two lead adults, the movie's success rests on other elements. First is the cleverness and charm of Craig Rice's book. It still holds up as a good read. (I know; I still have my copy with yellowing pages.) Rice was hired as the story consultant for the film so that she could keep an eye on the screenplay. It is largely true to the book with one major exception, often crackles with good, fast lines, and the murderer is well disguised. Second are the performances of the three child actors. Garner, Marshall and Stockwell all do fine, natural jobs. Sure, there's some cuteness, but it's character-based and not a product of self-conscious child acting. The kids may be precocious, but it's not irritating. And they know what they're doing when it comes to roasting a turkey.
Peggy Ann Garner gets top billing, followed by Scott and Bari. Although Bari never was able to break out of B movies in starring roles, she makes a great mother here. Bari was a terrific looker, a skilled actress and had one of the sexiest voices in Hollywood. As odd as it might seem, the author Craig Rice, who was a major mystery writer, put a lot of her own life into the story. There's a glamour shot of Rice you can find on the net; she looks a little like Bari.
