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has vanished. The man denies being
Roberts, but Butch takes him to the police station. There, to his relief, he finds Norma, who had gone for help. Webb tricks him into admitting he is Therme Roberts, and when Butch learns his gold-digging wife Belle never divorced her first husband (the husband shows up at the bureau looking for her), he and Norma are free to be together.
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missing is actually the person she was on trial for murdering (before escaping) and not her husband at all. When Butch goes to arrest her at her apartment, he finds her hiding in a closet. Norma begs him to send the other policemen away, telling him she can explain everything. However, when he returns alone, she has fled.
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who yearns to live a normal life, an aging bachelor whose housekeeper has disappeared, and an old lady whose daughter has run away, among others. Hank Slade works doggedly on one particular case - a missing wife - throughout the film, only to discover that she has been working at the bureau the whole
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Brash detective Butch
Saunders is demoted from the robbery division to the bureau of missing persons. Captain Webb, his new boss, is unsure whether Butch will fit in or is on his way out of the police department. Webb assigns Joe Musik to show Butch around. Gradually, Butch earns Webb's respect and
271:
charges, Therme murdered his brother and disappeared. Norma attended the funeral in hopes that he would show up as well. She points a man out. Butch and Norma chase him to his apartment building. Butch tells Norma to remain outside for her safety while he apprehends the man. When he returns, Norma
262:
investment banker husband Therme
Roberts, Butch takes the case, making no secret that he is attracted to her, even though they are both married. She, however, keeps him at arm's length. Butch is later shocked when Captain Webb tells him that she is really Norma Phillips and the man she claims is
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She fakes her suicide by drowning and disappears, but shows up when Butch stages her funeral with a borrowed corpse. When Butch spots her, she tells him that, as
Roberts' personal secretary, she discovered he had a mentally defective, idiotic twin brother, whom he took great pains to hide from
443:, gave the film a generally positive notice and remarked on the fact-based elements: "It is quite obvious that fact is the basis of many of the incidents and if several of the characters are too rowdy at times to be lifelike, it does not detract from the general interest of the production."
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called it "pretty fair entertainment ... steered clear of over sombreness or becoming too morbid" and added, "Just when it threatens to become banal, excellent trouping and some inspired dialoguing snap it back into proper gait."
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says, "With Del Ruth directing at screwball pace, things sometimes get a little too jokey; but at its best, in noting the obsessive quirks developed by officers, it has some claim to be considered an ancestor of
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describes it as an "amusing mystery film that is genuinely complex and intriguing, though it does take some slapstick turns. Davis fans will be disappointed as her headlining part is relatively small."
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In 1936, the picture was reissued with the opening credits reconfigured to give top billing to Davis, who was by then the studio's leading female star.
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if he turned himself in to the Bureau during the picture's engagement at the Strand. The film went into general release on
September 16.
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substance and makes it interesting journalism as well as adequate fiction are convincing shots of how a
Missing Persons Bureau works".
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was originally slated to star. Instead it became the second on-screen pairing of Davis and O'Brien, both under contract to
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Catalog of
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When attractive Norma
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Cases the bureau handles include a philandering husband, a
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as
Gwendolyn Harris, a runaway wife working at the bureau
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A print of the film is held by The Library of Congress.
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403:in New York on September 7, 1933. As a promotion,
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508:The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film
407:promised in advertisements to pay $ 10,000 to
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1503:English-language crime comedy-drama films
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230:by Robert Presnell is based on the book
710:(54): 3. September 2, 1933 – via
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238:Captain John H. Ayers and Carol Bird.
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688:(1): 17 – via Internet Archive.
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656:. September 18, 1933. Archived from
623:Hall, Mordaunt (September 9, 1933).
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575:Daly, Phil M. (September 6, 1933).
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267:everyone. She claims that, facing
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511:. Walter de Gruyter. p. 19.
428:in California on April 20, 1972.
1478:Films based on non-fiction books
739:
718:
66:by John H. Ayers and Carol Bird
1483:Films directed by Roy Del Ruth
1463:American black-and-white films
1458:1930s crime comedy-drama films
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1:
1158:Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
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367:The film's working title was
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1473:1930s English-language films
255:time, right under his nose.
148:September 16, 1933
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700:"Bureau of Missing Persons"
650:"Bureau of Missing Persons"
606:"Bureau of Missing Persons"
538:"Bureau of Missing Persons"
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1488:Films set in New York City
1358:Always Leave Them Laughing
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1414:Phantom of the Rue Morgue
1334:It Happened on 5th Avenue
1134:Bureau of Missing Persons
918:Ham and Eggs at the Front
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776:Bureau of Missing Persons
765:Bureau of Missing Persons
544:. American Film Institute
451:Bureau of Missing Persons
426:Grauman's Chinese Theatre
422:Bureau of Missing Persons
397:Bureau of Missing Persons
358:as Detective Irish Conlin
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542:Catalog of Feature Films
1398:Stop, You're Killing Me
1230:Broadway Melody of 1938
1182:Folies Bergère de Paris
1174:Broadway Melody of 1936
942:Five and Ten Cent Annie
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676:(September 12, 1933).
424:also premiered at the
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206:overtones directed by
1294:The Chocolate Soldier
1030:Divorce Among Friends
1022:The Life of the Party
870:The Little Irish Girl
733:June 6, 2011, at the
610:Turner Classic Movies
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1498:1930s American films
1422:The Alligator People
1366:The West Point Story
1270:Here I Am a Stranger
846:Three Weeks in Paris
589:(56): 6 – via
505:Goble, Alan (1999).
236:New York City Police
54:Robert Presnell, Sr.
1342:The Babe Ruth Story
1302:Maisie Gets Her Man
1278:He Married His Wife
1110:Employees' Entrance
1094:Beauty and the Boss
958:Beware of Bachelors
413:Joseph Force Crater
385:the previous year.
379:, who had appeared
195:is a 1933 American
1493:Warner Bros. films
1326:Barbary Coast Gent
1310:DuBarry Was a Lady
1046:The Maltese Falcon
886:Across the Pacific
816:Films directed by
781:TCM Movie Database
662:on April 23, 2008.
577:"Along the Rialto"
432:Critical reception
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1440:
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678:"Missing Persons"
518:978-3-11-095194-3
478:Hill Street Blues
439:, critic for the
411:'s missing Judge
399:premiered at the
340:as Therme Roberts
316:as Belle Saunders
310:as Butch Saunders
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1374:On Moonlight Bay
1206:It Had to Happen
1190:Thanks a Million
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632:. Retrieved
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546:. Retrieved
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332:Hugh Herbert
322:as Joe Musik
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164:Running time
141:Release date
79:Friz Freleng
75:Henry Blanke
62:
45:Roy Del Ruth
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1150:Upper World
1142:Lady Killer
990:The Aviator
838:Eve's Lover
674:Green, Abel
308:Pat O'Brien
302:Lewis Stone
296:Bette Davis
285:Bette Davis
232:Missing Men
220:Pat O'Brien
216:Lewis Stone
212:Bette Davis
102:Pat O'Brien
97:Lewis Stone
92:Bette Davis
71:Produced by
63:Missing Men
41:Directed by
1453:1933 films
1447:Categories
1390:About Face
950:The Terror
492:References
363:Production
234:by former
228:screenplay
200:drama film
168:76 minutes
152:1933-09-16
1350:Red Light
1254:Tail Spin
1126:Captured!
1054:Side Show
409:Manhattan
16:1933 film
1382:Starlift
934:Conquest
747:TV Guide
731:Archived
484:TV Guide
197:pre-Code
181:Language
126:Music by
85:Starring
59:Based on
1038:My Past
779:at the
682:Variety
458:Variety
392:Release
260:Chicago
247:trust.
184:English
173:Country
150: (
1433:(1960)
1425:(1959)
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897:(1927)
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749:review
728:review
515:
371:, and
226:. The
1070:Taxi!
204:comic
202:with
770:IMDb
654:Time
636:2015
550:2015
513:ISBN
446:Time
276:Cast
242:Plot
222:and
768:at
686:112
481:."
287:in
1449::
708:63
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527:^
218:,
214:,
809:e
802:t
795:v
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154:)
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