William Powell played Vance in four of the movies and he’s vastly better in the role than any of the other actors who attempted it. Powell was born to play Philo Vance.
Not everyone likes Philo Vance. Some readers find the character in the novels to be too obviously affected and American upper class, and some are annoyed by Vance’s extraordinary knowledge of so many esoteric subjects. Personally I like Vance a lot. Those who do have trouble connecting with the character will find Powell’s interpretation of the role more congenial - he makes Vance charming and likeable without sacrificing any of the essential characteristics that go to make up the character.
Financier Archer Coe is found dead in his bedroom. It was suicide. That’s obvious to everyone but Philo Vance. Vance has a hunch, and both District Attorney Markham (Robert McWade) and Sergeant Heath of Homicide (Eugene Pallette) have learnt from experience to listen when Vance has a hunch.
And there are a number of people with plausible motives for murdering Archer Coe. One of the motives is a dog. The dog was definitely murdered, and it was not just a much-loved do, it was a show champion. Those Chinese antiquities could be a motive as well. There are others with more personal motives.
Michael Curtiz directed and as a result it’s a fast-moving very professionally made movie with a few nice little visual touches.
The cast is solid. Eugene Pallette as Sergeant Heath provides comic relief but it’s not excessively intrusive or irritating. William Powell is of course simply wonderful and he’s the biggest reason to see this movie.
The plot is complicated although hardcore fans of golden age detective fiction might solve the puzzle before Vance does. This is a locked-room mystery, although not a terribly elaborate one. It turns out to be pretty basic. Fortunately that’s not the main focus of the plot - the big puzzle is the murder method. Or methods. The victim seems to have been killed three times in three different ways.
There are a lot of potential suspects. Vance has some ideas but his solutions always seem to leave at least one clue unexplained.
The story does involve dogs, although from memory our canine friends played a more significant role in the novel. They do provide a couple of clues.
This is one of six movies included in the Warner Archive Philo Vance Murder Case collection on DVD. The Kennel Murder Case has always been easy to find but in rather poor public domain releases. It’s great to finally have a worthy release of this film. Unfortunately quite a few of the William Powell Philo Vance movies are still unavailable.
This is the only film in the set wth Powell in the lead role. While the other actors all fail to deliver really satisfactory performances it is at least interesting to watch some talented actors (like Basil Rathbone) making the attempt.
The Kennel Murder Case is definitely an above-average 1930s murder mystery and it’s highly recommended.
I've also reviewed The Dragon Murder Case, The Casino Murder Case and The Bishop Murder Case from the boxed set.
I've got this box set, and was going to watch it over the next couple of months, but stuck this one on after reading this review.
ReplyDeleteWhat a really good film! Why isn't Curtiz even more well-known than he is? It rattles along at a good pace, the cast is great with not too much comedy, although I doubt this is how the US Police actually investigated murder in the 1930s! The story works really well - I got thrown more than once. A really classy piece of work.
Although, thinking about it, I may have to watch it again. Unless I missed it, I think there's one mystery they didn't explain ...
It's unfortunate that this is the only movie in the set with William Powell as Vance. He played Vance in four of the movies but the others are not easy to find and I think one or two may be lost films. It's a real pity THE CANARY MURDER CASE isn't included in the set. It definitely survives because I've seen it.
DeleteAll Powell's Philo Vance films are on Youtube, so they're not lost - Pallette is in at least two of them, but from what I've seen, they're not to the same standard as this one (mind you, this is a Curtiz movie lol). Might be a copyright thing, as the earlier films were for Paramount.
DeleteThe problem with the boxed set is that once you see Powell as Vance it's very hard to watch any of the other actors in the role - they all seem totally wrong.
DeleteI've yet to watch the rest, but as long as they're decent actors, I probably won't mind much. I've only read one Philo Vance story so far (this one)
DeleteThe other actors who played Vance were all fine actors but most seemed badly miscast.
DeleteBasil Rathbone was an interesting choice. I think Vance has to be played by an American, but it has to be an American who can do the upper class American accent. Casting a non-American was quite bold.