The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

S.S. Van Dine (novel)
Robert Presnell Sr. (adaptation)

Release Date:

November 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

GREATEST OF ALL THE PHILO VANCE MYSTERIES!

Plot:

Archer Coe has been found dead in his locked bedroom. The cops consider it suicide, but Philo believes otherwise...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Philo Vance | Sequel | Vase | Kennel Club

Cast

William Powell	...	Philo Vance
Mary Astor	...	Hilda Lake
Eugene Pallette	...	Detective Sgt. Heath
Ralph Morgan	...	Raymond Wrede, Archer's secretary
Robert McWade	...	Dist. Atty. Markham
Robert Barrat	...	Archer Coe
Frank Conroy	...	Brisbane Coe, Archer's brother
Etienne Girardot	...	Dr. Doremus, coroner
James Lee	...	Liang, Archer's cook
Paul Cavanagh	...	Sir Thomas MacDonald (as Paul Cavanaugh)
Arthur Hohl	...	Gamble
Helen Vinson	...	Doris Delafield
Jack La Rue	...	Eduardo Grassi (as Jack LaRue)

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved | Spain:13

Company:

Vitaphone Corporation, The

Trivia:

William Powell's last appearance as Philo Vance.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Philo is retelling his re-enacted version of the crime, he says Brisbane removed the revolver from the drawer, then he pointed the revolver and shot Archer. All good except for the fact it was not a revolver. It was an automatic pistol. A revolver has a round cylinder that holds the bullets, and revolves as you fire it.

Quotes:

Philo Vance: Well, if you knew Archer Coe, you would know that suicide would be almost a psychological impossibility for him.
Dist. Atty. Markham: Psychological, bosh! Now two and two make four, don't they?
Philo Vance: How do you know you have two and two?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in La très très grande entreprise (2008)

It Was All In The How

William Powell's final outing as Philo Vance occurs in The Kennel Murder Case where the murder of a championship show dog leads to two more murders and one attempt of the human kind. It's all in the figuring out of how that leads to the who and why.

The Philo Vance murders by S.S. Van Dine were most popular at the time and the clever Mr. Van Dine figured out a way to sell his books one at a time to the highest studio bidder. This is why you see so many Philo Vances and so many studios putting them out. Had Bill Powell not gone on to greater fame with MGM as Nick Charles of the Thin Man series, he would have been known as the greatest of Philo Vances.

It turns out that Powell had entered his little terrier Captain in the same contest where the murdered dog was entered and then another rival owner became the first murder victim. As usual Powell shows up Eugene Palette as Sergeant Heath whose biggest contribution to the proceedings was using his bulk to break down the locked from the inside door where the first murder victim was found.

I did say locked from the inside and it was an upper story so it was in figuring out the how. Powell has a lovely group of suspects, as extensive as what normally is in a Thin Man mystery. People like Paul Cavanaugh, Helen Vinson, Ralph Morgan, Mary Astor, fill their cast roles well.

Warner Brothers liked this version so much that in fact they remade it again in the Thirties with James Stephenson in his one and only outing as Philo Vance. It doesn't hold a candle to this one.

As this is the only Powell Philo Vance that is out on VHS or DVD by all means see this one or acquire it if you can.