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We Who Are About to Die

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We Who Are About to Die
Lobby card
Directed byChristy Cabanne
James Anderson (assistant)
Written byJohn Twist
Based onWe Who Are About to Die
1936 book
by David Lamson[1]
Produced byEdward Small
StarringPreston Foster
Ann Dvorak
John Beal
CinematographyRobert Planck
Edited byArthur Roberts
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • January 8, 1937 (1937-01-08)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

We Who Are About to Die is a 1937 American crime drama film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Preston Foster, Ann Dvorak, and John Beal. It was based on a book,[1] published while on Death Row,[2] by David Lamson, who was tried four times for murdering his wife before being set free.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

Plot

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A man is kidnapped by mobsters after quitting his job, then wrongly arrested, tried, and sentenced to death for murders they committed. A suspicious detective thinks he is innocent and works to save his life.

Cast

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Production

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Lamson was hired by producer Edward Small to work on the script.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b Lamson, David (1936). We Who Are About to Die. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
  2. ^ Chessman, Caryl (25 March 2009). Cell 2455, Death Row: A Condemned Man's Own Story. Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0-7867-3583-9.
  3. ^ Bernard Butcher, "Was it Murder?', Stanford Magazine, January/February 2000 accessed 25 May 2000
  4. ^ Gioia, Ted (May 12, 2021). "When a Famous Literary Critic Unraveled Silicon Valley's Most Sensational Murder Case". The Honest Broker. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  5. ^ Russell, Frances Theresa; Winters, Yvor (1934). The Case of David Lamson: A Summary. San Francisco: Lamson Defense Committee. Retrieved 3 August 2024 – via The Online Books Page.
  6. ^ "People v. Lamson - 1 Cal.2d 648 - Sat, 10/13/1934". California Supreme Court Resources. stanford.edu.
  7. ^ Guy, Fiona (11 October 2022). "Fate Is Not Kind: The True Crime Case of David Lamson". Crime Traveller. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  8. ^ Zaniello, Tom (2016). California's Lamson Murder Mystery: The Depression Era Case that Divided Santa Clara County. History Press Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4671-3653-2.
  9. ^ Herhold, Scott (11 March 2017). "Book defends Lamson in murder mystery". Santa Cruz Sentinel. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2024. I base my view on a 1934 letter that I found in Stanford's publicly available online archives written by Lowell Turrentine, a brilliant Stanford law professor who took an interest in the case. Turrentine argued that the pattern of cuts on Allene Lamson's head — he described them as three horizontal and one vertical — could not have been produced as a result of a fall. One of the cuts had a tear at the end, which Turrentine suggested could have been produced as an assailant clutched her hair and delivered a blow.
  10. ^ Drexler, Paul (May 28, 2017). "David Lamson's Ordeal, Part I". San Francisco Examiner. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  11. ^ Drexler, Paul (June 11, 2017). "David Lamson's Ordeal, Part II". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  12. ^ "We Who Are About to Die by David Lamson". The Publishers Weekly. F. Leypoldt. 1936. Retrieved 3 August 2024 – via google books.
  13. ^ Dawson, Kate Winkler (11 February 2020). American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI. Penguin. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-525-53957-5.
  14. ^ "Recreational Reading". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton University Press. March 6, 1936. p. 483. Retrieved 3 August 2024. Boomed by Woolcott
  15. ^ Schallert, Edwin (Apr 11, 1936). "Lamson's Book, "We Who Are About to Die", Will Be Produced as Film: Author Will Adapt; Beal May Be Starred Story of Father Damien's Experiences in Leper Colony Considered; Alex Esway of England to Seek Players Here". Los Angeles Times. p. 7.
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