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Bureau of Missing Persons (1933)

Director: Roy Del Ruth

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From Time Out Film Guide

Not a Davis vehicle, since she only appears halfway through, playing a girl wanted for murder. Based on a book by former police captain John Ayres, it cross-breeds an attempt to document the range of work covered by the NY Missing Persons Bureau (a number of unconnected cases are developed in parallel) and a healthily cynical vein of macabre humour. 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 Hill Street Blues.

Author: TM

Time Out Film Guide

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Cast & crew

Director: Roy Del Ruth

Cast: Pat O'Brien, Bette Davis, Lewis Stone, Glenda Farrell, Allen Jenkins, Hugh Herbert, Ruth Donnelly, Alan Dinehart full cast

Genre(s): Thrillers

Duration: 74 mins


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