Note:  The following articles were submitted by Marti Martin of the Woodford Co., KY Historical Society.  Click on articles to be readable.

Dallas Morning News – November 11, 1931

Dallas Morning News – November 12, 1931

Dallas Morning News – November 24, 1931

By now you have probably figured out these articles weren’t written about real people or an actual event.  It was a popular radio program which was later adapted as a movie, “The Trial of Vivienne Ware,”  released May 1, 1932.  Joan Bennett played Vivienne Ware, with John Sutherland as Donald Cook, and Lilian Bond as Dolores Divine.  The program was  scripted from a novel written by Kenneth M. Ellis.  Ellis was born in Chicago in 1891 and became a reporter at age 16.  While a reporter he found time to write 3 novels, a ballet, which he wrote and staged, and contributed historical articles for national publication.  He later became President of the American Historical Foundation.

Dallas Morning News – January 15, 1932

Bob Lipton of New York City wrote the following on IMDB:

“William K. Howard (the director) was given the task of turning a popular radio serial into a movie, and succeeded.  A carefully-written script that actually paid attention to the way cases are tried was the first step.  Some great support, particularly Skeets Gallegher and the great Zasu Pitts helps.  A restless camera helps keep up speed, and some great sets–particularly the nightclub set–make this a fine movie, even if the leads, who became lovers more than twenty years later, had no memory of working together on this one.”