The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Can anyone name a film noir movie or movies ( or contemporary spoof ) where a character uses a home recording machine (NOT a tape-recorder) to leave clues or capture damning evidence ?

"Double Indemnity" is out, already covered in another thread.

"Sudden Fear" -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045205/


Here's the scene where she finds out the truth about her husband, thanks to a disc recording machine that was accidentally deployed -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mauFx0jzQis

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OK, two come to mind so far,,, The first is in the movie "Strike Me Pink" with Eddie Cantor who runs an amusement park. He uses a big Capehart missing the back panel to
record the bad guy making a full confession without him knowing it. The chase follows as the guy tries to get the incriminating record. Also stars the character "Parkyakarkus" whose
real name is Harry Einstein. Here are some Cliff Clavin xmas dinner facts nobody cares about. His sons are Bob and Albert who took the last name Brooks for obvious reasons.
Harry died while at the friars roast of Lucy and Desi. I'm sure there is a Lucy show where she records something. See how I brought that back around.

Speaking tv, Ed norton has Ralph record his apology to Alice as "Little Buttercup" on record. Too bad he has a BIG mouth.


Abbott and Costello used the same sort of situation in "Dance With me Henry" where Costello records the record in a carnival voice recorder. The chase follows
where any self respecting 78 would have been broken into pieces many times over again but of course it doesn't.

There was a Philo Vance mystery that involved a home recording. I can't quite remember if I saw it as a movie or read it in a book though. My brain is turning to mush!

I did see Sudden Fear last weekend though. What was that dictation machine Joan Crawford was using. It looked very fancy.

My wife and I watch old movies all the time, and I know I've seen numerous instances of a Dictaphone being used, often in a office situation. It usually has nothing to do with the plot, though.

I put "Sudden Fear" in my Netflix DVD queue for future viewing.

Crimson Peak (2015 Guillermo del Toro film).

Some good answers, none of them what I was thinking.


I had in mind one of the Red Skelton noir-spoofs from the 1940's, "Whistling in Brooklyn", where he plays a radio sleuth, Wally "The Fox" Benson, who manages to get mixed-up in a real crime caper. Anne Rutherford plays his girlfriend / girl Friday, and manages to sneak an instantaneous recording of the criminals planning out their crime, and whisks it to the Judge in the nick of time.

I don't remember what machine was used, it was a large, premium floor-model in someone's Library.


There were three "Whistling" movies: Whistling in the Dark (1941), Whistling in Dixie (1942), and "Whistling in Brooklyn", (1943).

Let's not forget the hilarious Preston Sturges classic "Unfaithfully Yours"