AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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The Notorious Landlady
Director: Richard Quine (Dir)
Release Date:   1962
Premiere Information:   Chicago opening: 27 Jun 1962
Duration (in mins):   123
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Cast:   Kim Novak (Carlye Hardwicke)  
    Jack Lemmon (William Gridley)  
    Fred Astaire (Franklyn Ambruster)  
    Lionel Jeffries (Inspector Oliphant)  
    Estelle Winwood (Mrs. Dunhill)  
    Maxwell Reed (Miles Hardwicke)  
    Philippa Bevans (Mrs. Brown)  
    Henry Daniell (Stranger)  
    Ronald Long (Coroner)  
    Richard Peel (Dillings)  
    Doris Lloyd (Lady Fallott)  
    Florence Wyatt (Ambruster's secretary)  
    Frederic Worlock (Elderly colonel)  
    Dick Crockett (Carstairs)  
    Scott Davey (Henry)  
    Jack Livesey (Counsel)  
    Tom Dillon (Coroner's officer)  
    Benno Schneider (Man)  
    Carter DeHaven [Sr.] (Old man)  
    Cecil Weston (Woman)  

Summary: Young Bill Gridley, an American State Department official, is transferred to London, and he rents a room in a stately old town house belonging to American Carlye Hardwicke. The next day he learns from his superior, Franklyn Ambruster, that Scotland Yard suspects Carlye of having murdered her husband, a Britisher who is reported to be missing. Bill refuses to believe the accusation, though he reluctantly agrees to spy on his beautiful landlady. Then one night, he hears sounds of a scuffle and races into Carlye's room to find her holding a revolver over the lifeless body of her husband. At the coroner's inquest, Carlye is vindicated by the testimony of Agatha Brown, a private nurse who cares for Carlye's crippled next-door neighbor, Mrs. Dunhill. The nurse claims that she saw Carlye struggling with her husband and that the murder was committed in self-defense. What she does not tell the court is that the husband had become enraged when he discovered that Carlye had innocently pawned a candelabra in which he had hidden a number of stolen jewels. Following the trial, Mrs. Brown murders the pawnbroker, obtains the jewels, and goes to a seaside resort to kill old Mrs. Dunhill, who also knows about the jewels. Carlye and Bill learn of Mrs. Brown's intent and take frantic pursuit. Mrs. Brown pushes Mrs. Dunhill's wheelchair down a winding cliff edge, but Bill makes a wild dash and catches it just in time. A flying tackle by Carlye subdues Mrs. Brown as Ambruster and Scotland Yard's Inspector Oliphant arrive on the scene by helicopter. 

Production Company: Kohlmar-Quine Production Co.  
Distribution Company: Columbia Pictures  
Director: Richard Quine (Dir)
  Carter DeHaven Jr. (Asst dir)
  Burt Astor (Asst dir)
Producer: Fred Kohlmar (Prod)
Writer: Larry Gelbart (Scr)
  Blake Edwards (Scr)
Photography: Arthur Arling (Dir of photog)
Art Direction: Cary Odell (Art dir)
Film Editor: Charles Nelson (Film ed)
Set Decoration: Louis Diage (Set dec)
Costumes: Kim Novak (Miss Novak's gowns)
  Elizabeth Courtney (Gowns executed by)
Music: George Duning (Mus)
  Arthur Morton (Orch)
Sound: Charles J. Rice (Sd supv)
  Josh Westmoreland (Sd)
Special Effects: David Koehler (Spec eff)
Make Up: Ben Lane (Makeup)
  Harry Ray (Makeup)
  Maudlee McDougall (Hairstyles)
Production Misc: Hal Fisher (Loc mgr)
  Esther Stephenson (Scr supv)
  Mel Traxel (Stills)
Country: United States

Music:
Songs: "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General," music by Arthur Sullivan, lyrics by William S. Gilbert.
Composer: William S. Gilbert
  Arthur Sullivan
Source Text: Based on the short story "The Notorious Tenant" by Margery Sharp in Collier's (3 Feb 1956).
Authors: Margery Sharp

Copyright Claimant Copyright Date Copyright Number
Kohlmar-Quine Production Co. 27/6/1962 dd/mm/yyyy LP22246

Physical Properties: b&w:
  Sd: RCA

 
Genre: Mystery
  Mystery
  Comedy-drama
 
Subjects (Major): Americans in foreign countries
  Chases
  Handicapped
  Eavesdropping
  Jewels
  Justifiable homicide
  Landladies
  London (England)
  Murder
  Neighbors
  Nurses
  Pawnbrokers
  Scotland Yard (London, England)
  Spies
  Theft
  Trials
  United States. Dept. of State

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.
 
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