Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Derrick Gibbons
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
39-0-13
Minor Spoiler contained.In the mid-1960's, as part of my misspent youth, I read all the Philo Vance novels by a guy named Wright under the nom-de-plume of S. S. Van Dine. For some unaccountable reason, some of his books became "best sellers" and made the author a fortune. Even the Book of the Month Club honored some books as "selections." The first book THE BENSON MURDER CASE was never filmed under that title, but then several books in succession found their way into cinema history. The last book THE WINTER MURDER CASE was unfinished at the time of Wright's death. There was a progression in quality as you read the books and as you see the movies adapted from them. The earlier books are the best, so too the movies based on them. The muse seems to have left Wright as time ran on, and the quality of the mysteries devolved into the blood and thunder genre. The absolute joke of the series was THE GRACIE ALLEN MURDER CASE with the real life Gracie Allen as a character leading "Fido" (played by Warren William) around by the nose. Anyway, this film under review with Paul Lukas and Roz Russell is more in the THIN MAN vein, as opposed to the more respectable THE KENNEL MURDER CASE. Many reviewers here have talked about Lukas and his European accent (the Vance of the novels was a pure WASP, but even more intelligent, educated and insufferably arrogant than can be imagined -- a true wish fulfillment figure for the author), and others have commented on the absurdity of the plot where the murderer turns out to be a raving lunatic. But instead of repeating what has already been noted, I want to single out Eric Blore who plays "Currie" -- Vance's man servant. Blore is one of those little noticed supporting players who took up only a few minutes in every film he was in, but still managed to make an impression. I noticed him in a few Astaire/Rogers films, especially the one in which he talks to Alice Brady about crumpets. He saves the day with his revelation at the end of THE GAY DIVORCE. Here, he plays a servant who adumbrates Bruce Kwok in the Peter Sellers' "Clouseau" movies with his skill in fighting his master with swords and then with boxing gloves. Can't recommend the film as a mystery; but as a time server with seeing Russell (not looking all that glamorous, admittedly) before her step up the movie ladder, it may be worth the while.
JohnHowardReid
Rosalind Russell once described this movie as "A real bomb! The worst picture I ever made!" And it must be admitted that the professional critics also were not kind. Paul Lukas came off a distinct second best in all comparisons with William Powell's interpretations of Philo Vance (and of course in Powell's 1930 "Benson Murder Case", Lukas plays one of the principal suspects). All the same, I enjoyed this entry. Despite Edwin L. Marin's competent but rather ordinary direction, Alison Skipworth and Isabel Jewell give absolutely marvelous performances! And there's solid support from a more than able roster of some of our favorite character players, particularly Arthur Byron and Ted Healy. The script is reasonably taut and suspenseful. And the movie is attractively dressed up with all M-G-M's usual polish. What more can you ask?
gridoon2018
Leave it to MGM to make an "A" production out of a genre that most other studios at the time treated as "B" stuff. A complicated mystery that keeps you in the dark but plays fair with the attentive viewer, an above-average cast (Isabel Jewell is especially memorable), and some clever jabs at the "long-winded" speech patterns of Vance himself make this one of the best films featuring this fictional detective that I've seen. It's true that Paul Lukas' rather heavy foreign accent makes him an odd choice for the role of Philo Vance, but his performance is otherwise quite good, and combined with the film's other strengths, that's enough to overcome this particular handicap. *** out of 4.
BaronBl00d
Basil Rathbone. Warren William. William Powell. And now? Paul Lukas. All played Philo Vance in the movies up to 1935 when Lukas took his turn as the urbane, suave American detective Philo Vance. I really like Lukas as an actor, but I must agree with a previous review that stated how distracting his accent was and how much it affects his character's credibility. I had trouble forgetting about it(probably as every time he spoke I was reminded!). This time around, Vance gets a note warning him that a member of a rich family is going to be killed at a family-owned casino. Vance investigates and has a keen interest in the possibility of a crime being committed and even more interest in the rich matriarch's private secretary Rosiland Russell. Russell is really quite good as she has an excellent tough for light comedy - which this is undoubtedly more so than a mystery. The mystery at times almost seems to be in the way of some cute comedy sketches between various secondary characters only to be explained with some hugely wild plot contrivance dealing with hard water! While Lukas and the mystery are not up to what I usually expect from a Philo Vance film, the film is saved because the end resolution is at the very least interestingly inventive and there are some really fine character performances by Russell, William Demarest,Louise Fazenda, Isabel Jewell, Ted Healey, Leo G. Carroll, and two that really stand out for me - Charles Sellon as the always put-upon coroner(he keeps busy in this one) and the ever impregnable Eric Blore( a master of sophisticated comedy for man-servants).
