The Argyle Case (1929 film)  The Argyle Case (1929) is an all-talking pre-code mystery film directed by Howard Bretherton and starring Thomas Meighan, H.B. Warner, Lila Lee, John Darrow and Zasu Pitts. The film was based on a play by Harriet Ford and Harvey J. O'Higgins. It was produced and released by Warner Bros. The play was previously filmed as a silent in 1917, "The Argyle Case". A wealthy man is shot just as he reaches for the phone to call for the police. Suspicion falls on his ward (Lila Lee) as he has intended to change his will, which had left his entire estate to her, to share it equally with his nephew. The nephew, who is in love with Lee, calls in a private detective, who eventually finds it is the lawyer who is the criminal. No film elements are known to survive. The soundtrack, which was recorded on Vitaphone disks, may survive in private hands. The sound to four reels (Reels 3, 5, 7, and 9), out of nine reels, survives on Vitaphone disks at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.