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The Case of the Black Parrot (1941)

The Case of the Black Parrot (1941), directed by Noel M. Smith, starring William Lundigan and Maris Wrixon.

01/09/1941 BR Crime, Drama and Mystery 1h

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CABINET OF DEATH! Each secret compartment carried the names of one doom...to DIE!

Synopsis

Sandy Vantine and her uncle, Paul Vantine, return from Europe with an antique cabinet purchased during their trip. Jim Moore, a reporter who had met Sandy and fallen for her during the voyage, suspects something odd about the cabinet. His suspicions are confirmed when people who have touched the cabinet mysteriously die. Jim and Sandy set out to solve the mystery before anyone else can become a victim.

  • Ted D. McCordCinematography
  • Noel M. SmithDirector
  • Thomas PrattEditing
  • Bernhard KaunOriginal music

About the film

The Case of the Black Parrot is a 1941 American mystery crime film directed by Noel M. Smith and written by Robert E. Kent. The film stars William Lundigan, Maris Wrixon, Eddie Foy, Jr., Luli Deste, Paul Cavanagh and Charles Waldron. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on January 11, 1941. Despite the identical title structure, it is not part of the studio's Perry Mason series, which had ended in 1937.

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The Case of the Black Parrot is a 1941 American mystery crime film directed by Noel M. Smith and written by Robert E. Kent. The film stars William Lundigan, Maris Wrixon, Eddie Foy, Jr., Luli Deste, Paul Cavanagh and Charles Waldron. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on January 11, 1941. Despite the identical title structure, it is not part of the studio's Perry Mason series, which had ended in 1937.

Plot

Aboard a ship, newspaper reporter Jim Moore falls for passenger Sandy Vantine and meets her uncle Paul, who is in possession of a small wooden chest that he believes could be a copy made by the mysterious Black Parrot, a notorious art forger. Scotland Yard inspector Colonel Piggott is also aboard, presumably on the Parrot's tail.

Jim proposes to Sandy and meets her relatives and family acquaintances. They include Madame de Charierre, the chest's rightful owner, whose maid Julia had been trying to retrieve it because a secret drawer contained compromising love letters. A police constable named Grady arrives and Jim contacts Piggott as well. Paul and another guest quickly end up dead and Piggott quickly declares everyone in the house to be a suspect.

A second hidden compartment contains priceless diamonds. Jim and Sandy realize just in time that Piggott is the Black Parrot who has been pursuing the jewels all along.

Cast

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Theodore Strauss wrote: "It is complete with standard equipment—a priceless old cabinet with secret drawers, a beribboned packet of scented letters, veiled women bearing a double identity, muffled figures silhouetted at the library window as the clock chimes midnight, and a butler with a guilt complex (probably because all the scenarists are pointing the finger of suspicion at him, but that doesn't fool us any more). But somehow each moment of suspense is merely a prelude to long-winded deductions in the library. In short, 'The Case of the Black Parrott' [sic] is on the verbose side, though there's no such bird in it."

References

External links

The Case of the Black Parrot at IMDb

The Case of the Black Parrot at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

The Case of the Black Parrot at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Text from The Case of the Black Parrot on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Case_of_the_Black_Parrot

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What is The Case of the Black Parrot about?

The Case of the Black Parrot: Sandy Vantine and her uncle, Paul Vantine, return from Europe with an antique cabinet purchased during their trip. Jim Moore, a reporter who had met Sandy and fallen for her during the voyage, suspects something odd about the cabinet. His suspicions are confirmed when people who have touched the cabinet mysteriously d…

Who directed The Case of the Black Parrot?

The Case of the Black Parrot was directed by Noel M. Smith in 1941.

Who stars in The Case of the Black Parrot?

The cast of The Case of the Black Parrot includes William Lundigan, Maris Wrixon, Eddie Foy Jr., Paul Cavanagh and Luli Deste.

How long is The Case of the Black Parrot?

The Case of the Black Parrot runs for 60 minutes, or 1h00.

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Page updated on 09/14/2026.

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Scene from The Case of the Black Parrot