For all of us seasoned armchair detectives, Warren William remains one of the best in his class. He more than likely solidified that image with his entertaining portrayal of Perry Mason in a short series produced by Warner Brothers, who was crankin' out whodunits about as fast as they could in the early 30s. In fact, William Powell's portrayal of the THIN MAN came pretty darn close to William's portrayal of Mason, and it could justifiably be argued the other way around at that! One interesting note is that William replaced Powell as Philo Vance, beginning with THE DRAGON MURDER CASE. Now you had William playing Vance fairly similarly to Perry Mason! Go figure! But it all was so much fun to watch because William, like Powell, was a terrific actor, in fact extremely hard to dislike, charming and a tad on the mischievous side. This Vance entry also took a turn to the macabre, often compared to a horror film, though not quite. It is a close call and most definitely more fun to watch late at night as Vance investigates the death of a pro swimmer who drowned in a mysterious pool, said to be haunted! Leave it to those imaginative writers at Warners to come up with this one, and the identity of the murderer will keep you guessing through and through. Good supporting cast with the likes of Margaret Lindsay and Lyle Talbot, but you have to hand it to frog-voiced Eugene Pallette as the second guessing, cigar chimping long arm of the law coupled with Etienne Giardot as the ever frustrated coroner. Very atmospheric with some nice, spooky touches and DO NOT forget a host of red herrings to match. Soooo, if you can, just sit back and enjoy this neat little thriller that keeps on giving in glorious black and white!
Review of The Dragon Murder Case
