Chicago (1927)

When her lover (Eugene Pallette) dumps her, a married woman (Phyllis Haver) shoots him to death. Initially, her husband (Victor Varconi) confesses to the crime but when the police trick her into admitting she killed him and she is sent to prison, her notoriety makes her a celebrity. Based on the 1926 play by Maurine Dallas Watkins and directed by Frank Urson. This is the first of the play's many incarnations. It was made into a movie comedy in 1942 called ROXIE HART and subsequently turned into a Broadway musical in 1975 which was revived in 1996 (the revival became the second longest running musical in Broadway history) and eventually the Oscar winning 2002 film version of the musical. This version was produced by Cecil B. DeMille so it's a little darker and definitely more moralistic than the subsequent versions. Frankly, I was a disappointed. It's an interesting film but all of the adaptations that followed were superior and more fun. The shyster lawyer Billy Flynn (Robert Edeson) is more of a douchebag here than in the other versions. The characters of Velma Kelly and Mama Morton are mere cameos. The most striking change is the character of the husband whose importance to the story is stronger and he's more sympathetic and likable. The cynicism and humor of the subsequent adaptations is sorely missed and this being a DeMille film, the murderess may have been acquitted but she's punished by life. With May Robson and Julia Faye.