The Kennel Murder Case
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Movie Reviews of The Kennel Murder Case
Movie Review: "It's a maze of conflicting clues. Any one of seven people might've done it."
Summary: 4 Stars
In the annals of pop culture, that famous amateur detective Philo Vance probably won't register much of a blip, not nowadays. But, back in the depression era, Philo Vance was big noise. S.S. Van Dine wrote the mystery novels, and in 1929, with THE CANARY MURDER CASE, William Powell and his patented pencil mustache brought Vance to cinematic life. Vance was popular enough that he garnered a series of films. THE KENNEL MURDER CASE, coming out in 1933, is Powell's fourth and final turn as Philo Vance and overall the fifth movie in the series (Basil Rathbone had played Vance in the preceding film, THE BISHOP MURDER CASE). THE KENNEL MURDER CASE is considered to be the best entry in this B-movie franchise. In this one, our refined crime solver runs into his most challenging puzzler yet.
When well-known sportsman and collector Archer Coe is found in a locked room, dead with a gun clutched in his hand, Philo Vance highly doubts it's a case of suicide. Indeed, further investigations would bear out Philo's opinion, that this is a complex murder mystery, with many puzzling elements. And, of course, with the victim so unlikable, there's no dearth of motives and grudge holders. So line up the suspects. Philo Vance is on the case and, with the film only 73 minutes long, he doesn't take too long to unravel the mystery and nab the killer (okay, so another corpse turns up before Vance solves the thing).
THE KENNEL MURDER CASE is a minor classic, modestly entertaining, and serves as a cinematic time capsule, granting us a peek into a period when coppers and reporters hung out and played cards in smoky rooms and traded in gruff banter. I don't see that happening much nowadays, do you? Back then, folks like Philo Vance and Nick Charles (more on him in a bit) are so well respected by the law enforcers that they're allowed to casually saunter onto a crime scene or into a police precinct and throw their weight around. Never mind that they hold no official standing. This whodunnit also keeps within the cherished guidelines of the 1930s murder mystery genre. So, here, the amateur sleuth and the reporters crack wise, the flatfoots are befuddled, and the upper crust acts all snippy. However, one genre device isn't utilized as Vance fails to gather all the suspects in one room for the big denouement.
Minor gripe: It bugged me a bit that so many of the male characters here sport thin mustaches. For a while, I had trouble placing who was who.
Michael Curtiz, who would later direct classics like The Adventures of Robin Hood (Two-Disc Special Edition) and Casablanca (Two-Disc Special Edition), helms this one and he mostly maintains a no-nonsense pace. I say mostly, because at times the film does bog down in excessive exposition. Vance's solving of the original murder is one of the most convoluted explanations I've ever heard, but pretty absorbing. THE MALTESE FALCON's Mary Astor shows up as the love interest (but not Powell's love interest), while old reliable Eugene Pallette grumbles and fumbles as Detective Sgt. Heath. I also dig Etienne Girardot, the cranky physician who keeps getting his meal plans interrupted as bodies insist on surfacing ("I want food! And if you got any more corpses, bring 'em out now, will you?"). And, as mentioned already, an abundance of the cast strolled around in their thin mustaches and confused me.
My dvd copy comes from the Alpha Video folks, who produce a lot of public domain movies. As such, the film quality could be better. The film looks washed out and scratchy in places, and the audio at times was a bit tinny. Of course, this movie is pretty old, coming out in 1933.
William Powell is my favorite actor in classic Hollywood. Dude may actually be my favorite actor of all time. William Powell has never been less than witty and debonair and engaging. His THIN MAN (Nick and Nora Charles) series is justifiably more celebrated (his screen partner Myrna Loy has something to do with that), but Nick Charles owes something to Philo Vance, who paved the way on film. There's even a foreshadowing of Nick Charles's wonder dog Asta here, as Vance gets a minor assist from his Scottie terrier.
At least nine actors have played S.S. Van Dyne's sophisticated amateur sleuth, but concencus states that William Powell is the definitive Philo Vance. Didn't make much sense that in 1940, for this or that reason, THE KENNEL MURDER CASE was remade as the inferior CALLING PHILO VANCE, with some guy named James Stephenson as Vance. C'mon, really, how do you improve on William Powell?
Movie Review: William Powell as Philo Vance is excellent in this locked room whodunit
Summary: 4 Stars
"Markham," says urbane gentleman crime-solver Philo Vance (William Powell) to the district attorney, "I'm coming more and more to the belief that Archer Coe was killed in this room. That poker, this dagger sheath, now these fragments...it's all here." "But Vance," Markham says, "do you mean to tell me a dead man walked upstairs?" "I'm not trying to tell you anything but the facts," Vance says. "This is the most remarkable case in my experience."
We're sympathetic. Wealthy, arrogant Archer Coe, disliked it seems by all who knew him, had been found slumped in a chair in his bedroom, pistol in his hand and a gunshot wound to his head. But wait. Further examination shows Coe had been hit hard by a blunt instrument that fractured his skull. Then there's the dagger wound in his back. Complicating matters is that Coe's bedroom door and windows all had been locked from the inside. Coe was no suicide; this was murder. But how could the killer have escaped? What was the specific motivation since there are so many suspects? And why was Coe's brother, Brisbane Coe, found dead in the main-floor closet?
The Kennel Murder Case, now 73 years old, still provides a stylish look at the old locked-room classic whodunit. What makes it work as well as it does is, first, the mystery is complicated and clever, but still is logical. Second, is the amusing, assured performance of William Powell. Consider his work as Philo Vance as something as a rehearsal for his great performances as Nick Charles. Few things escape Vance. He uses his wits to piece things together. He's also good company. Powell was a star in the Twenties and moved steadily upward in status and popularity when the talkies took over. His intelligence, style and effortless sophistication have made him one of the most contemporary-seeming of actors from the past.
Also pleasant is seeing a few other great faces. There's Mary Astor as Hilda Lake, the young, resentful and potentially rich ward of Coe; Paul Cavanaugh as a titled Brit hovering around Hilda; Helen Vinson with her notably sultry and selfish manner (watch her really do her stuff in Vogues of 1938); Etienne Giraudot, a small elderly man as the fussy Dr. Doremus, whose job as coroner and medical examiner keeps taking him away from his meals; and Ralph Morgan as Archer Coe's private secretary. This movie has a high percentage of middle-aged men without an ounce of fat who can wear snug, English-cut tailored suits with ease. Most of all is Eugene Pallette, with his noble belly and gravel voice, as Detective Sergeant Heath. Sergeant Heath and Vance are long-time acquaintances who actually seem to like each other.
In the light of the comments about Alpha Video's picture quality, you might want to check out the Roan Group's release of this public domain film. It comes with Nancy Drew...Reporter on the flip side. Both films are obviously old, but I thought the pictue quality and audio was clean for both movies.
Movie Review: Very Nearly the Perfect Murder Mystery
Summary: 4 Stars
In THE KENNEL MURDER MYSTERY, William Powell as detective Philo Vance gives one of his earlier portrayals of the utterly suave leading man who is always at the eye of a murder hurricane. The thirties was known for churning out genre films like this, a whodunit, and such films put to shame the tripe put out by Hollywood today. Murder mystery films by their very nature are intrinsically plot driven, with little or no emphasis given to round or flat characters. As they enter the way they are, they exit the same way. The joy is watching how the lead pieces together the threads of a crime before gathering the suspects in a room and then announcing, "Ah ha. It was you (the culprit) all along!" Basil Rathbone and Warner Oland were to do much the same in a few years. Here Powell is faced with what appears to be a suicide but he soon deduces is in fact a murder, that unsurprisingly leads to a second one. Along the way, he has great fun interacting with an ensemble of veteran B actors like Eugene Pallette and Mary Astor, all of whom bounce off him in just the right way to produce a sense of omnipotence on Powell's part. Things run so smoothly that we scarcely note any logical flaws. We are entranced by the magic of Powell's liquid diction. There is no question that director Michael Curtiz was pointing the audience toward a surprise ending. There was no further question about the legitimacy of Powell's astuteness at the end. Finally, there is no question that we would gladly see this whodunit once again--even knowing the end. There can be no higher compliment for a film of this type.Movie Review: THIS IS A GOOD OLD FASHIONED WHO DONE IT
Summary: 4 Stars
from the 30s. William Powell is his usual sophisticated self, and in this film he, as Philo Vance, has an extraordinary talent for sleuthing. So much so that he makes the head detective of the police department (played adroitly by Eugene Palette) look like a dunderhead. But Palette's character doesn't mind and, in fact, depends on Powell's gift to solve the case and take the credit (and Powell doesn't mind in the least) for it. So all is amicable.
Several reviewers have mentioned the poor quality of the DVD. I only experienced near the end of the film two or three moments when the sound/picture seemed to slightly skip. Other than that, all ran smoothly.
Mary Astor is in this film, suave and gorgeous and looking so young one hardly recognizes her. Also legendary character actor Jack LaRue playing an Italian. And then there is Frank Morgan, et al. And one meets a couple of terrific dogs: one a scotty, the other a doberman. Their performances are up to par.
I personally couldn't guess who the murderer was unti it was ultimately revealed due to Vance's brilliancy. In fact, I had the wrong man in mind. I like a who done it where the villian's identity turns out to be a surprise. And the motive was one I couldn't imagine.
An enjoyable trip to the 30s.
Movie Review: Stylish Mystery poorly served on DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
Michael Curtiz' delightfully stylish mystery is poorly served in this DVD presentation, which suffers from poor audio, especially toward the end of the film, when the sound intermittently drops out. The print used for this public domain disc is, unfortunately, also not up to par, as it is filled with scratches and pops. (A far superior print has shown on Turner Classic Movies, and was issued by Turner on laserdisc).
The film itself is as fresh and fun as ever, as Philo Vance (a perfectly-cast William Powell) investigates an apparent suicide that he believes is a case of foul play. The supporting cast is a virtual who's who of 30s character actors. Mary Astor (7 years before her performance in "The Maltese Falcon") gives a strong supporting performance, and Eugene Pallette adds his unique comic presence to the proceedings.
Curtiz, who established himself in Hollywood (after a brief career in Hungary) as one of Warner Bros.' most consistent and reliable craftsmen, has the opportunity to show off some stylistic touches that pre-date what Hitchcock was doing in England (the editing transitions are reminiscent of Hitchcock's cutting in "The Man Who Knew Too Much", from the following year).