The Canary Murder Case (1929 Malcolm St. Clair)

Lulu speaks! Apart from a lovely aerial shot which accompanies Louise Brooks swinging over an audience, a very static and creaky early talkie in which all performances are stilted and the talking unnatural (almost unwatchable print of rare film doesn't help). William Powell is Philo Vance, Eugene Pallette the extremely slow detective (who says they've met on the 'Greene Murder Case' released the same year).

Unfortunately the beautiful Miss Brooks is bumped off after a quarter of an a hour. From her voice, though, I'm not sure she would have made it in the talkies regardless of her studio spats. (I later learned from BBC's Arena documentary that Paramount dubbed her into sound without her consent - it was originally a silent - and even used a double in some scenes.) Also recognisable: Ned Sparks, Jean Arthur. Has some ingenuity at the end plus Vance works out the killer by playing poker.

With this lumpy old mattress following on after the winds of the greatest silent achievements it's no wonder that for a while sound looked like the death of cinema.